


I Need You

by GenericPureBlood



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 104th Training Corps - Freeform, Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Anxiety, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Background Relationships, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Based In The Uk, British English, College Student Eren Yeager, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Ensemble Cast, Eren Yeager Has Anger Issues, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff, French Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), French-Speaking Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Friendship, House Party, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Isabel Magnolia and Eren Yeager are Related, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Swears, Levi Smokes (Shingeki no Kyojin), Levi is Bad At Feelings (Shingeki no Kyojin), Levi is a Little Shit (Shingeki no Kyojin), Long Shot, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Modern Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, No Smut, No tag spoilers, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pain, Past Furlan Church/Levi, Poor Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Slow Burn, University, Updates Monthly, best friends Levi and Erwin, ereri, erwin is a good friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27701918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenericPureBlood/pseuds/GenericPureBlood
Summary: Levi had been dealt quite a shitty hand of cards in life. His life was only made shittier by Eren Jaeger. The two had been fighting for all of Levi's time in high school, It seemed the brunette was hellbent on ruining Levi's life, (which he was doing a marvellous job at as well) until one fight almost cost Levi everything. A few years passed and the brunette just so happened to be enrolled on his course and live in the same accommodation as him as well.A gift for two people who mean the world to me. I hope they enjoy :)(Updates monthly/fortnightly)
Relationships: Furlan Church/Levi, Levi/Eren Yeager, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein, Moblit Berner/Hange Zoë, Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer
Comments: 20
Kudos: 27





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Erenoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erenoo/gifts), [regular_john](https://archiveofourown.org/users/regular_john/gifts).



> Kudos and Comments are highly rated around here, pls help ya boi out don’t forget to follow me on socials! I interact with readers and shitpost :) also!!! Any questions about this fic drop them in my inbox!  
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* * *

Stinging pain lingered on his knuckles; crimson liquid steadily dripped from his nose. His eye was beginning to swell shut; ringing echoed around the raven. In all honesty, he had finished fighting two rounds ago, he was tough, but this Jaeger kid didn't want to give up, spurred on by adrenaline the brunette came at him again.

The raven braced himself for the next round of punches and kicks that the brunette had poorly aimed at him. To his shock, the flurry never came. Opening his one undamaged eye, the reason why the storm of fists never came was evident. Erwin Smith, Levi's friend, had come between the two. His large frame and imposing aura were enough to cause Eren to freeze in his fighting pose. The raven began to smile, watching Eren scamper off with his tail between his legs did bring him an odd sense of satisfaction.

"Levi." Erwin began, "shut up, I don't need your help eyebrows." The raven spat quickly; he ensured no one was around as he slumped back onto the bench, "why are you fighting with Jaeger again?" Erwin asked bemused by his friend's rambunctious hobbies. "He’s my mortal enemy, that Jaeger kid is annoying and rude," Levi replied. "Did he insult your height again?" Erwin asked, handing the raven a handkerchief, the raven blotted at his split lip and his nose.

The raven's silver eyes collided with his friend's icy blue ones. Their wordless exchange was all Erwin needed to understand, "I see." He said, sitting beside the raven, "we're in the last year of highschool Levi. We're expected to be the role models, we have big exams this year, fighting with Eren is hardly the image the school would like." Erwin reminded him, "oh well, it builds character. You're the head boy so I can get away with a lot more than I'd like to admit." The raven replied.

"No, you can't, the teachers are already aware of your fight and are on the way over with the nurse." Erwin replied, "did you rat me out again?" Levi asked the blonde shook his head. "No, but I could tell you'd be fighting." The taller male said as he stared at the gaggle of teachers that were swarming towards the raven.

"Levi Ackerman!" the headmaster yelled, "my office now!" He hollered, "but sir, I'm bleeding out." The raven replied dramatically, spitting a mouthful of blood to the floor, the nurse hurried over and hoisted the raven up by his arm. Erwin relayed the series of events to the headmaster. Levi was fussed over by the nurse for a while longer, "all these injuries are superficial. You're fortunate, Levi." The old hag croaked, she was applying sterile-strips to his cut lip. "Not even a broken nose." She mused, "broken bones heal back stronger. Mine are very strong." Levi replied nonchalantly.

The raven's scuffed shoes swung as he waited for his mother to come into the school. Eren's parents looked nice, which confused Levi. 'If these parents were so nice, why was their son such a prick?' He mused himself as he gnawed on the skin on his thumb, the raven jumped as the door swung open. His mother was breathless, "Sorry, traffic was awful." She replied, smoothing out her hair. The raven looked at his mother; she took a seat next to her son.

"Dr Jaeger, Mrs Jaeger, Miss Ackerman. I apologise for having to call you out like this, but yet again, your sons have been fighting. We agreed that if this were to happen again, both boys would be excluded for a set amount of time. Levi's punishment would be taken to the board of governors due to him having several warnings and exhausting our other options. Eren, however, would only have 15 days suspension." The headmaster explained, "that's not fair, I have exams. How am I supposed to revise for exams if I've been suspended." The raven blurted out, "No, Levi I think that's very fair. You were the one instigating these fights. You know Eren gets wound up easily, and you continuously wind him up to the point where a physical altercation happens." The headmaster snapped.

"Do I even ask why you were fighting this time?" he sighed, drawing a pen out from his desk. The raven was silent, "Eren, tell me why you decided to fight with Levi." The headmaster said the brunette swallowed thickly and shook his head. "He said that it was no surprise my dad didn't want to stick around after seeing how I turned out." The raven said suddenly. The adult's jaw's dropped, "Oh my God." Carla exclaimed covering her mouth, her sweet German accent coming out in her moment of shock. "Eren, is this true?" The headmaster asked the brunette shook his head quickly.

Denying ever uttering the words, "well, it is true I wouldn't fight you for no reason." The raven countered, "Was there a witness?" the headmaster asked, "no," Levi began to speak but was rudely interrupted again. "So then you have no way of telling that it did happen. Therefore, I rule it as not happening. Eren is a sweet boy; he would never say such a thing." The headmaster said, scribbling down some notes. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" Levi demanded standing up with such force his chair fell.

The raven and his mother walked out of the school together; the raven had his head bowed low as he stared at his feet. The drive home was silent as the rain gently pattered on the beat-up old car's windshield, "you need to find a job whilst you are waiting for your trial." Kutchel said quietly; the raven looked at his mother with pleading eyes. "I need to focus on my exams ma," the raven said gently. "Levi I am not sure they will allow you back to do your exams. That was the last straw," she replied.

The raven's jaw hung open, "they can't do that, I'm smart. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault this time!" he exclaimed, "it never is Levi." Kutchel replied, turning down their street. The two parked and quietly went inside the house, "they have to let me do my exams; they have to." The raven mumbled. "No, Levi. They don't have to do anything. They might transfer you to a different school, or bar you from campus until the days of exams." Kutchel explained wearily sitting down at the table; she rubbed her eyes with a sigh.

"Ma, I swear it wasn't me. He started it." Levi begged sitting close to her, "Levi," Kutchel heaved out with a sigh, "listen, please!" Levi exclaimed. The raven explained his side of the story, "you have no way of proving this Levi. It's your word against his," she explained as she sipped her tea. "Levi, you can't keep going on like this. You have to learn to start taking responsibility for your actions." Kutchel said, settling her cup down on the rickety table. The raven opened his mouth to complain, "I thought I was raising you to become a man who took responsibility for his actions." She said, staring at her son, the raven exploded into a rant, causing the raven to sweep his glass of water onto the floor.

"Levi!" she exclaimed. With a sigh, she turned to her son. "I’m your primary carer I always get your worst Levi, and quite frankly I’m sick of it,” Kutchel said. Humility washed over Levi as he stared at his mother; she looked dead on her feet. She was working two jobs to try to keep their family afloat. “I always want to give you the benefit of the doubt; you’re not a bad kid.” She said her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s easier to pin things on the kid with a damaged background than it is to pin it on the kid with a picturesque upbringing,” Levi spat as he finished cleaning up his mess.

A few weeks passed, the raven had his meeting with the school governors. The raven had received inside knowledge of the trial from Erwin. His father was the education governor in their school district. When the raven went into the meeting Levi lead his defence by explaining how he took full responsibility for his actions and that he understood that if he were allowed back to school, he would be on his final warning. Any other bad behaviour would result in him being permanently excluded, by one vote Levi was allowed to stay on at the school.

Much to the headmaster’s dismay, the deciding vote was Erwin’s father. The man had always seen the best in Levi; he often would come home to find Levi keeping Erwin company in their house. The raven was in shock as he left the room, “are you going to let Kutchel know?” Mr Smith asked, “I don’t have a phone.” Levi replied sheepishly, in a fit of rage at his new job, he had broken his phone on his lunch break when a customer had rubbed him up the wrong way. The raven had taken up a job at the local coffee shop, “oh, I see. Well, she’ll be ecstatic for you when you return home to tell her.” He replied with a genuine smile.

Levi passed his exams with flying colours after the exams he stayed on for two more years. He passed his A-Levels with some of the best grades the school had seen in years. “Where did you apply for?” Erwin asked the two were lay in a field staring at the sky as the sunset. “I was offered lots of places.” Levi replied, “Oxbridge was among them. They offered me a full scholarship,” he explained, “I can’t see you going to Oxbridge. It doesn’t suit your aesthetics.” Erwin said with a laugh, “I thought we were applying to London together?” Levi asked, “yeah, we are, but I wanted to be sure that you hadn’t changed your mind.” Erwin replied.

“I can’t believe you’d turn down Oxbridge for me.” Erwin said, shaking his head, “how did I get into Oxbridge, but you didn’t?” Levi asked, “you took a foreign language. I didn’t.” Erwin replied, “so wait, how many A-Levels did you do?” Levi asked, sitting up and flicking the straw out of his hair, “four. History, maths, chemistry, and business. You did five with your foreign language. You took it early remember?” Erwin asked. Levi hummed and shrugged, “I’m just glad to be free of that freak Jaeger.” Levi said, stretching.

The two had gone out to the fields close to Erwin’s house to walk the blonde’s dog. “You still hate him after all this time?” Erwin asked Levi nodded. “Fucking freak, almost got me kicked out,” Levi muttered. Erwin snorted, “what are you going to study at uni?” Erwin asked, “Sports science, and you’re doing law?” Levi asked. Erwin nodded, “are we taking your car down to London?” Levi asked Erwin, nodded once again. “Yeah, and we’re sharing the accommodation. There’s parking on-site if you ever get your little crapbox down to London.” Erwin teased.

“Leave my shitty little car alone. It may be shit, but it gets the job done.” Levi defended his old car. “I’m going to leave it to ma. She needs a new car. I’ll just buy a new one with the student loan.” Levi said, “Oh, you don’t have to pay for accommodation, or anything, do you?” Erwin asked Levi shook his head. “I get more money because of my household funds and shit,” Levi said, Erwin nodded gently. “When are we going to buy stuff for the rooms?” Levi asked, “whenever, but we gotta make sure it’s going to fit in the car.” Erwin replied, staring at his friend. “You got a Range Rover as your first car, that has more than enough space for our crap,” Levi said with a sigh.

“now are you boys sure you have everything?” Kutchel asked for the 5th time, “Yes, mother,” Levi said with a sigh. Erwin smiled kindly, “yes, Miss Ackerman. We have everything we need.” Erwin said, smiling, “Erwin, how many times do I have to say, please! Call me Kutchel! You’ve been friends with Levi for so long,” Kutchel gushed out. Erwin checked over his car for the final time as Levi said his goodbyes to his mother. “I love you, Levi,” Kutchel said as she embraced her son tightly. The raven buried his face in her shoulder as he hugged her tightly.

“You’re welcome to have my car if you want it. I was going to sell it anyway.” Levi said. His voice muffled in her shirt, “really?” Kutchel asked the raven nodded. “Good, because I was going to use yours whilst you were away anyway.” She replied with a smile on her face, “I’ll have Erwin’s car, I think that’s enough to get around, its London too, you don’t use cars either.” The raven reasoned, “you two are living where exactly again?” Kutchel asked, “We’re in central London by Hyde park, there are good train routes. You’ll be able to visit.” Erwin replied, trying to soothe the woman’s anxiety. “okay,” she breathed out, visibly releasing tension from her body. The raven said one last goodbye to his mother as he climbed into the car. The raven offered a final wave as the two pulled out of the estate and onto the road.

“Are you crying?” Erwin asked as he changed lanes, “shut up.” Levi mumbled. “Awww, Levi. I miss my parents too. My dad was crying. I think I’m going to miss the dog most.” Erwin gushed as he shifted gear. “Who are we sharing this flat thing with?” Levi asked, “it’s like halls, so we’re with a couple of other people. We’re the first to move in I think. There was a group chat for our flat on Facebook see if you can get any other info about the housemates from that.” Erwin said as he turned the volume down on the music.

The raven took out his phone and sure enough. The group chat was there, “5 other participants?” Levi questioned, “well there’s a couple of rooms, so chances are there's going to be more people in the accommodation. We share a kitchen and common area, but we have ensuites, so it’s still quite secluded.” Erwin replied, the raven put in an applicant to the group on both phones and waited to be accepted. “I swear if you bring anyone home and start getting the freak on and I can hear it I’m going to flip shit,” Levi replied, the blonde laughed loudly. A notification from Levi’s phone caused the two to stop their conversation, “I’ve been accepted into the group.” Levi announced.

“So we’ve not got a lot of people, we have Jean Kirstein, Hange Zoë, Mike Zacharius, Moblit Berner, and Reiner Braun.” Levi said, looking at the participants, “Why is this Hange girl so excited to welcome us?” Levi asked. “She’s got good enthusiasm, she’s probably very excited for university,” Erwin replied as the two pulled into a service station to get some food and refuel. “So Jean and Reiner are on the same course as me, Mike is doing law too, Moblit and Hange are Biochem,” Levi explained, Erwin had been accepted into the group and was quietly chewing on a French fry as he typed into the chat with his pinkie finger.

“How long do you reckon until we’re in London?” Levi asked, “maybe another two hours?” Erwin said, looking at the map on his phone, “fucking hell.” The raven mumbled as he stole another of Erwin’s fries. “I can already tell this Hange girl is going to piss me the fuck off,” Levi said as he rubbed his hands with hand sanitiser. “Maybe, but maybe you’ll like her. But anyway, we better get back on the road. I’m going to go to the toilet before we go back on the road.” The blonde said standing, the raven cleaned up their mess and followed Erwin to the toilet. “This Jean guy looks like a bit of a tool,” Levi commented as the two walked to the bathrooms.

“I can’t explain it, he just gives fuck boy vibes,” Levi argued as they arrived back in the car. Erwin was laughing loudly, “I can’t physically explain it, but he just does.” Levi laughed as he climbed into the car. “Maybe you’ll like him too,” Erwin suggested as he turned the car on, the raven shook his head aggressively and buckled up, “Can I put my playlist on?” Levi asked the blonde nodded, handing the raven the aux cable. The raven rubbed his hands together with excitement, “it better not be some weird music, or I’m going to scream.” Erwin warned the raven as he began to drive.

As the first song flowed from the speakers, the blonde nodded his head in approval. “This is a good song I’ll allow this,” Erwin said as he turned it up and the two sang along. The two eventually made it to their accommodation, the two parked and began moving in. the two worked together to get all the suitcases in and up to their floor. “I’m fucked.” Levi panted out. The two were laying on the floor, after moving all the suitcases from the car into the rooms. “Holy shit.” Levi gasped out, “my thoughts exactly.” Erwin replied. “I still think you brought too much alcohol.” Erwin said, “are you dumb? There’s no such thing as too much alcohol.” Levi replied, sitting up and pulling over the alcohol suitcase.

“Do you think we should hang out in the kitchen in case people move in?” Levi asked, “I’m not sure; let's unpack and then try to decide what to do.” Erwin said as he hung up his clothes. The raven leapt into action. He set about arranging his bedding when the two had unpacked they stowed away the suitcases and began on claiming kitchen space. “We need to do food shopping,” Erwin said, looking at the raven, Levi was currently scrubbing down the entire kitchen in preparation for his kitchen things.

“After I’ve cleaned the fridge and mopped the floor we can go,” Levi replied, the raven busied himself with the cleaning, muttering about the low quality of cleaning as he went. Once the kitchen was sparkling, the two set out to buy food. The raven cringed as a child passed dangerously close to him, “not a fan of kids, Levi?” Erwin teased, “fuck off. You know how I feel about the sticky little cretins.” Levi spat as the two strolled around the shop, “what do you want for dinner tonight?” Erwin asked, “we’re having chicken pesto, or do you not want that anymore?” Levi asked, “oh yeah, I forgot.” The blonde replied.

“I hope someone has moved in whilst we’ve been out,” Erwin said whilst he collected the bags of shopping. “I don’t.” Levi muttered, “you hate people, so that’s a given.” The blonde replied, “can we use the lift this time because I am not carrying any more bags up those stairs.” Levi grumbled, the blonde agreed, and the two waited for the lift patiently. “Why didn’t we use this in the first place?” Levi asked, “the lift keys were in our rooms.” The blonde replied as the two listened to the boring elevator music quietly. Upon the doors opening to their floor, they were met with chaos.

There were bags everywhere, shouting was heard down the hall, cupboards slamming, doors slamming shut. Levi felt his eye twitch, “oh my God!” A loud voice called, “it’s you!” the voice exclaimed. The two stepped out of the elevator and looked around, “Hi! I’m Hange! It’s so good to meet you all!” She cried, flinging herself at Levi. The raven stiffened up and froze, “wow you’re short!” Hange cried the blonde tried to hide the snort that came from his mouth to no avail. Suddenly realising that there was a second person in the corridor she flung herself onto Erwin. “Wow, you’re so tall, you have huge eyebrows though…” she trailed off and twirled around, “I’ve gotta go help my family unpack! I’ll be back!” She yelled and ran off into one of the rooms.

“I already don’t like her.” Levi spat out, Erwin laughed loudly as the two padded into the kitchen and put away their food. A rather timid looking guy was putting his plates away. He looked up and greeted them immediately, “Hi, I’m Moblit. I assume you met Hange?” He asked chuckling, “you know you should get a leash for her.” He replied as he put his chicken in the fridge, “Levi. That’s not very neighbourly.” Erwin chastised, the blonde apologised and introduced the two and explained they which courses they were on.

“Hange and I are on BioChem together. She’s my girlfriend.” He said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. The raven almost choked on his tea, “who owns all the hard liquor under the sink?” Moblit asked, “Levi.” The blonde replied, barely looking up from his phone, “are you guys quite heavy drinkers then?” Moblit asked cautiously. “No, I just can’t get drunk.” The raven replied, sitting opposite Erwin on the communion sofas.

“What? Seriously?” Moblit asked, “Levi has only gotten drunk once in his life like he’s never gotten shitfaced. It takes something insanely strong to get him drunk. He can get tipsy off lower percentage stuff if he has lots and lots of it, but it takes so long, by the time he’s slightly buzzed we’re all throwing up and calling it a night.” Erwin explained, “so you guys know each other then?” Moblit asked, sitting next to Levi. “Yeah, he's my best friend. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.” Erwin replied, “do you know if anyone else is moving in today?” Erwin asked, “we arrived early and moved in at like 11-ish.” The blonde explained.

“Hange and I moved in today, at like 1. Mike is supposed to move in today at 2, Jean might move in at 3, and Reiner might move in at 5, but there are three other, empty rooms. So that means we’re getting three mystery housemates.” Moblit replied. “I just hope they’re nice,” Moblit added. “If they’re not, Levi will sort them out,” Erwin said winking at Moblit. The brunette smiled and chuckled. “I’m serious. He will. I’m a pacifist, Levi’s got no issue kicking someone’s ass.” The blonde explained.

“Do you know Mike and Jean?” Erwin asked, “no, not really. We just set up that chat because we were worried that we would be the only people on this floor. Every other floor was full of people, and this was the only one without a chat, so we set it up, and then Jean and Mike joined. From what I can tell, Mike doesn’t talk much. He just lurks in the chat, and Jean talks a lot when he’s got something on his mind he’s quite hot-headed sometimes. But he’s nice, and Reiner is a bit of a bro, he’s here on a full scholarship for rugby.”

Moblit explained, “Oh great, just what we need. Rugby lad mentality,” Levi grumbled sipping his tea gently. “He’s not like that, he’s gay for one.” Moblit said, “so we don’t have to worry about the flat hearing him fucking a million different girls each day.” The brunette said with a smile, “no, instead we’ll hear him fucking a million different guys each day instead,” Levi mumbled. The raven couldn’t help but jump at the laugh that left Moblit’s mouth, the brunette apologised and covered his mouth. The brunette had a very distinct laugh; it was a cross between a snort and a chortle. “Alright Miss Piggy, calm down.” The raven said as he set the drink down on the coffee table.

The other two males burst into laughter. Erwin composed himself and shot a disapproving look towards the raven. “Levi!” Erwin scolded, “Moblit! Our parents are leaving now!” The hurricane of energy that was Hange yelled from the hall. “I better go say goodbye to my folks,” Moblit announced slapping his knees as he stood. The two watched Moblit leave, the kitchen door slamming as he left. “That door’s gonna get annoying,” Erwin remarked, indicating to the door with his eyebrows. “Yeah, but hopefully the rooms will be soundproof,” Levi mumbled, “admittedly it's wishful thinking on my part. But still, one can dream,” the raven said with a sigh.

“What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” the blonde asked loudly opening a packet of cookies. “Not sure, maybe when everyone moves in we can drink or something?” Levi offered, the blonde gasped and covered his mouth with his hand, “do my ears deceive me? Is that, Levi Ackerman being friendly and pleasant?” Erwin mocked. “Yeah, okay, Erwin. Shut up, or I’ll shave your eyebrows off in your sleep.” The raven threatened, “now that’s a threat.” The blonde replied settling back on the sofa with a small stack of cookies delicately balanced on his thigh as he scrolled through his phone.

* * *

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	2. _

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party time y'all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are highly rated around here, pls help ya boi out don’t forget to follow me on socials! I interact with readers and shitpost :) also!!! Any questions about this fic drop them in my inbox!  
> insta: genericpureblood  
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_The playlist for this fic[🎵](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZcwslNdu308UhKub0wwe3?si=dr8ne4I7TruY0jbpsb-DOg)_  
_My discord[🔉](https://discord.gg/6na8avK)_

* * *

“They’re bloody big enough, and I’ll give you an eyebrow slit and all.” The raven threatened the blonde laughed loudly. “Do you remember when you got an eyebrow slit because we got pissed and you grazed your head off a wall? Everyone thought it was intentional and hopped on the bandwagon.”

The blonde said, laughing loudly, “I had been drinking all day, I showed up to school drunk, got through the day with no incident.” The raven announced proudly. “What year was that?” the blonde asked, “year 10, we were unhinged in year 10.” The raven replied, “I remember we used to sneak out to go smoke at lunch and break, and the teachers never suspected a thing.” The blonde said fondly, “yeah, and then you had to become head prefect, head boy, and you left me to be a deviant by myself.” The raven said pitifully, “I still snuck out at breaks to smoke with you!” the blonde protested, “you used to give me all your roaches instead of a regular rollie.”

The blonde mumbled, “it was your punishment for being a goodie two shoes.” The raven replied, finishing his tea. The two sat in comfortable silence, “speaking of smokes. Do you need one now?” The blonde asked, the raven nodded and rose from his position. Levi strode to the sink, washing out his cup and drying it thoroughly before returning it to its position on the mug tree.

The two males climbed down the mountain of stairs and headed out to the smoking area in their accommodation. The raven was making their menthol smokes. “How did you learn about putting the menthol ball in the straights?” the blonde asked, curiosity etched into his voice. “Kenny,” The raven replied bluntly. The blonde nodded quietly. “Where’s my lighter?” the raven asked, holding his hand out expectantly. Erwin quickly patted down his pockets and found the small jet lighter handing it to him. Levi passed the blonde the straight and lit up his own, the two smoked quietly.

“Bloody freezing out here,” Levi mumbled as he shivered and drew his knees up to his chest. The raven had claimed the bench to perch on as they smoked. “There’s a gym here as well, so you can practice your sports science shit.” The blonde replied, “I don’t go to the gym.” Levi scoffed, “well, your course would probably recommend it.” Erwin gasped suddenly causing the raven to jump. “What?!” Levi demanded furiously wiping the ash from his jeans.

“You should come to the gym with me!” Erwin suggested, “you’ve not got a bad figure, but I think just fine-tuning it with special exercises could do a world of good for you. You’d look so good.” The raven blew out the smoke and looked at the blonde. “You hitting on me?” the raven demanded.

“Of course Levi, I’m so gay for you.” The blonde replied sarcastically. “I’d fuck you, straight boy.” The raven said nonchalantly. “Thank you, Levi, that’s great for my confidence. I’m so glad to know that.” The blonde rolled his eyes and took a long drag. “I’ll come to the gym with you,” Levi replied begrudgingly, “excellent, well we can go before dinner,” Erwin replied. “But our pesto chicken.” Levi protested flicking the ash from his smoke. “We’ll make part of it before, so all we have to do is throw something in a pot, it’ll be okay.” The blonde reassured the raven, “why don’t we go now instead of later?” The raven asked, “it’ll be quiet now.” He added, looking at the tall male.

“Yeah, true.” the two finished their smokes and headed inside to get changed for the gym. “I can’t believe I’m going to the gym.” The raven grumbled, the blonde snorted. “Come on you’ll enjoy it, you’ll look amazing too. Your metabolism is crazy fast.” Erwin said as they headed down to the gym, “thanks, it’s the malnutrition.” Levi joked, Erwin rolled his eyes and punched his friend’s arm gently. “I won’t be able to do your workout; I’ll literally die.” The raven said, looking at the blonde. “That’s fine, just go on the treadmill or something.” The blonde replied.

“I’m fucked.” The raven whined as he lay on his clean bed, “it wasn’t that hard surely?” Erwin asked, “it wasn’t then this guy started working out next to me and made it a competition, so I had to work harder then I would like.” The raven mumbled slowly sitting up to stare at the blonde.

The two’s silence was interrupted by Levi’s stomach growing loudly, “I think its time to make this food then,” Erwin announced staring at the raven, they had both showered and were currently lazing around in pyjamas. “If I must,” Levi grumbled shoving his feet into his sliders and pulling on a hoodie the two made their way to the kitchen. Hange burst into the kitchen as the two were arguing over the types of pasta to use, “Mike moved in whilst you two were out by the way.”

Hange said as she padded over to inspect the cooking, “and you two fight like a married old couple.” Hange announced grinning madly, “please talk some sense into him,” Erwin said, looking at the brunette. “fusilli is better than farfalle for pesto pasta.” Erwin explained, looking at her. “I agree with Levi. Bowtie pasta makes everything taste better.” She said with a smile, “thank you!” the raven exclaimed pointing the wooden spoon at Hange.

“Fine, we’ll use bow tie pasta then,” Erwin grumbled, the raven rolled his eyes and measured out a little of each pasta and threw it into the pot of boiling water. “Now stop pouting like a giant baby.” The raven mumbled as he salted the water. “Jean says he’ll move in today, he’s on his way apparently,” Hange said perching on the counter next to Levi. “That’s good we’ll get to know everyone. If we get the majority to move in today shall we have some drinks as an ice breaker?” Erwin suggested as he hovered over the raven.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Hange replied, she had stolen the bag of pasta and was eating it dry. “What the fuck are you doing?” Levi questioned the girl “eating.” She replied quickly staring straight at him, “how long have you been together then?” She asked, staring at the two. Erwin burst out laughing, “we’re not together,” Erwin managed to choke out, “we’ve been friends since we were little.” Erwin explained, “oh, my bad.” Hange said as she stuffed more dry pasta in her mouth, “stop eating my fucking pasta, you’re getting crumbs everywhere.”

The raven spat snatching the bag off her and putting it away, “Moblit and I ordered McDonald's.” The brunette girl said as she swung her legs wildly. “What is this Mike character like?” Erwin asked, “he’ll be in shortly, Moblit is just helping him move some stuff up here.” Hange explained as she watched Levi cook, “why do you sound like such a Victorian when you speak?” Levi teased the blonde male, “Just speak normally,” the raven said with a smirk. “Stop being a prick,” Erwin mumbled as he stole a small chunk of cheese.

“Awww he looks so sad.” Hange half yelled in the raven’s ear. “He’s just a giant baby, do you have like a volume button or something?” The raven asked wincing. The raven looked up at the blonde, “are you joking me? Stop pouting like a baby!” The raven exclaimed, shaking his head. “Awww! Erwin!" Hange exclaimed, holding her arms open for the blonde. He shuffled into her open arms; she wrapped herself around his torso.

“Unbelievable,” Levi muttered as he continued his cooking. Moblit walked in just as Erwin and Hange were embracing next to Levi, “um okay?” He questioned, “Moblit! Come join in! Levi is being mean so we need to hug Erwin!” She yelled, causing Erwin and Levi to wince. Moblit laughed but none the less joined the hug, the kitchen door slammed shut, causing the group to turn and look. In the doorway was stood a tall man, a mop of dirty blonde hair sat atop his head, he blinked several times taking in the sight before him.

“Mike!!” Hange hollered, “come join the hug!” she exclaimed, kicking her legs out in wild directions. The blonde grunted as he claimed a cupboard and began putting his things away, “Mike is studying the same course as you Erwin!” Hange yelled, “yeah, we talked a bit before he moved in.” Erwin replied, slowly peeling himself away from the hug.

“Jean is also moving in,” Mike announced as he stood to put his plates in a top cupboard. “is he?!” Hange squealed, “yes, he just arrived as I was going across the hall to put my stuff in the kitchen.” He said, “where’s the nearest shop?” he asked suddenly. “Tesco is the closest if you need someone to go with I can go with you?” Erwin offered, Mike shrugged. “I’ll say goodbye to my parents, and then we’ll go, I guess.” The taller blonde said as he disappeared through the door. “Bro? Our food?” Levi exclaimed, “I’ll be back before food is ready, don’t worry.” The blonde replied. The raven shook his head with a sigh, he turned the temperature down on the hob and padded to the sofa, Hange and Moblit joined him, Erwin and Mike headed out to the shops.

The three were left on the sofa. “What do you think Jean is gonna be like in person?” Hange asked, “I dunno, let's ask him now.” Levi replied as the door was pushed open by a woman with perfectly manicured nails. “Oh look Jeanie it's so cute it looks like your grandpa’s retirement flat.” The woman gushed, “great.” A male’s voice replied as he carried two large plastic tubs into the kitchen. “Hi!” Hange screeched at the two, the male jumped and stared at the three. “I’m Hange! This is Moblit and Levi! Moblit is doing Biochem, and Levi is on your course.” The brunette female announced to the two newcomers.

The raven gave a half-wave at the other, “do you need help with anything? We can help if you want.” The brunette girl offered, smiling kindly, “oh, no, it's okay.” Jean replied as he found an empty cabinet and began to put his things in, “oooh, who is cooking some food! It looks lovely!” His mother chirped up, “I am.” The raven replied gently, “it smells so yummy.” She said kindly, “Are we gonna do anything tonight? I can see all the alcohol on the windowsill.” Jean pointed as he put his cutlery away in a drawer.

“Jean, I’ve got your documents here for your car.” A man’s voice cut through the room, a relatively short and fat man, shuffled in to give his son the documents. “You need to sign these parts here.” He demanded pointing to the papers with his fat fingers; he produced a pen for his son and hovered next to the taller male as he filled out the forms. He collected up the papers and licked his thumb and finger before rifling through the documents, Levi felt himself cringe as he did so. He finally handed Jean the one he needed.

“That’s for your records. These need to go to reception they will give you a permit.” He said, putting a star in the top corners of the papers. The raven padded over to stir his food, “Jean, we’ll go shopping for you and put these in at reception as well. We’ll be back soon.” The man said as he got his car keys from his pockets and motioned for his wife to follow. “Do you want anything, in particular, Jean?” The woman asked, her son shook his head.

The door slammed as they left, “thank fuck they’re gone.” Jean mumbled, he flopped on the sofa opposite Hange and Moblit. “All the way here they’ve been talking my ear off, Jean do this, Jean do that, Jean do this and that. It was becoming a problem.” He joked, “How did you get your car up here?” Hange asked, “my dad drove it; my mother drove me in their car.” He explained, “have you all got cars here?” Jean asked, “Yeah, Hange does, Erwin does I think, and Mike does too.” Moblit replied the raven sat next to Jean and got out his smokes.

“I’m dying for a smoke, do you wanna smoke?” Jean asked the raven. “Sure,” Levi replied as he extracted a menthol ball from the filter, Jean watched in awe. “Why do you do that?” Jean asked, “it makes it taste better.” Levi replied Jean nodded, watching the raven intently. “Erwin has my lighter, do you have one?” Levi asked as he tucked his smoke behind his ear and stood pulling Erwin’s coat and sliders on.

“Yeah, I do, it's temperamental, but I have one,” Jean replied, sparking the lighter a few times and following the raven to the smoking area. “So where are you from?” Jean asked immediately as they sat on the bench table. “Originally? Marseille, I moved to the UK when I was 5,” Levi replied, he was shocked when Jean switched the conversation to French, “et Moi? Je suis né à Lyon.” Jean announced proudly. “I could tell by your accent when you spoke slightly, that you were French,” Jean explained in English. “I’m half French, my dad is German, hence my last name. Kirstein.” He explained tapping the ash from his smoke.

“Did you move here to attend university?” Levi asked, looking at Jean. “Non, je vis au Royaume-Uni depuis l'âge de huit ans.” Jean replied, stretching, “I’ll finally have someone to save me from all the English around here.” Levi said with a smirk. Jean laughed loudly and nudged the raven.

Levi looked up at him, “we gotta stick together now, to save each other from these bloody English.” Jean said with a genuine smile. Levi nodded in agreement, “we do.” Levi wasn’t the type of person to actively go out and make friends; he would rather the friends come to him. In his defence more often than not it worked. Exhibit A: Erwin Smith; he became Levi’s friend when Levi moved to the country. The blonde padded up to Levi and immediately began talking with him.

They’ve been best friends since then, despite being quite antisocial and quiet to outsiders. Levi was an incredibly witty and funny person. Once you got past his cold exterior, he often cracked a lot of jokes. Most of them flew over his peer's heads, but a lot of the jokes Levi cracked were often crude, dark, and insensitive. Despite this, Erwin would more often than not end up in fits of laughter over his friend’s jokes. Despite having only interacted with Jean for a few minutes, Levi knew he would be good friends with the other male.

The two went through two more smokes each before heading inside. The two had bonded over their love of expensive alcohol and their French upbringings. “Ah shit, do you have any spray or gum? My parents don’t know I smoke.” Jean explained sheepishly, “yeah, in my room.” Levi replied as the two trooped up the stairs to their flat.

“We could have taken the lift,” Jean suggested, “someone just got into the lift we’d have to wait for it to come back down and your parents might come back as we’re waiting for them smelling like smoke.” The raven explained, “very true; I can tell you’re gonna be the smart one in this friendship.” Jean replied, “what and you’re the dumb pretty one?” Levi teased, “Yep, I have nothing going on up here.” Jean panted out as he tapped his head.

Levi snorted and pushed open the door to his room; he handed Jean the bodyspray and the gum. The other male took it gladly and sprayed down his clothes and his hands with the spray, he put the gum in his mouth just in time as his parents began to call him. Levi could make out bits and pieces of the conversation through Jean’s phone, “okay, come upstairs then. I’ve finished unpacking now anyway.” Jean said he made eye contact with Levi and shook his head. The two made their way to Jean’s room to quickly put away his clothes and things before his parents appeared.

“They’re just parking the car now. So they should be here super fast.” Jean said as he shoved all his boxers and socks into a drawer. Levi was quickly folding and putting away Jean’s t-shirts and trousers. “One suitcase left,” Jean announced seeing how fast the raven was working through the clothes and hangers.

“I think its just shower things.” Jean said hurrying over and peering in, “yes it's just bedding, towels, shower things. All the alcohol is in a duffle bag under my bed, so I’ll move it to the kitchen in a minute.” He said hurriedly as he put the empty suitcases on the bed. Jean emptied the contents of the last bag onto the floor of his bathroom and shut the door putting the empty case next to the others.

The two lay panting on the scratchy carpet of Jean’s room, “thanks man, you saved my ass there. My dad wants to take these suitcases home.” Jean explained. “No problem,” Levi panted out. The two finished their jobs just in time as well; the two could hear Jean’s father’s loud voice echoing off the corridor walls. The taller male groaned as he peeled himself off the floor, the raven sat up and sighed.

“He’s a loudmouth if I ever met one,” Jean grumbled out as he stood and offered a hand to Levi. The raven took the hand and stood up with his new friend, the two headed into the hallway to meet them, suitcases in tow. The two students took the bags of shopping from the adults and shuffled into the kitchen laden down by the haul. “I don’t know if all of this will fit into the fridge,” Jean whispered to Levi, the raven snorted and helped the taller male put the food away.

“Levi we’re back!” Erwin announced holding the door open for Mike. “Hello,” Levi called over his shoulder. “Is the food ready?” Erwin asked, coming over to look at the food, “I’ve been helping Jean with a few things.” The raven explained as he turned the temperature up on the food and resuming his cooking. “Jean.” His father barked, the taller male turned and looked. “I’ve given in the forms for you; I put your permit on as well.”

He said gruffly handing the keys to his son. “Thank you,” Jean replied as he put his snacks away. Mike was wordlessly putting his things away, stealing occasional glances at the others in the room. “Are we gonna drink tonight?” Jean asked, “yes.” Levi answered almost instantly. “Reiner says he’s on his way over to move in now. He’s just helped a friend move in down the road. So he’ll be here shortly.” Hange announced, “great so we can all get to know each other better.” Erwin said with a smile.

“Jean. We’re going now.” The man barked again. The ashen male stopped his unpacking and went to bid goodbye to his parents. The raven continued putting away for his new friend, Mike and Erwin claimed the spare sofa and scrolled through their phones. Jean arrived back reasonably quickly, “that was fast.” Hange said smiling. “Yeah, my dad was a pain. Complaining again, so my mother had to go shut him up.” Jean replied, making a beeline for Levi.

The ashen male sat on the counter next to the raven. “Erwin this food is almost ready,” Levi announced as he checked the chicken. “Okay.” The blonde replied from the sofa. “Oh, do you already know Erwin?” Jean asked, the raven nodded and gave Jean the rundown on their friendship. “Aw, cute,” Jean said as he stole a bit of pasta. The raven plated up the food and immediately washed up the pots and pans he had used for the food.

Jean was drooling at the sight of Levi’s food. “What?” the raven questioned. “It just looks delicious,” Jean replied, wiping his mouth. “Oh, Jean we’re going to order McDonald's, we tried earlier, but it was closed for orders. Do you want to order with us?” Hange asked. The ashen male nodded excitedly and messaged her his order.

The group ate together at the table whilst Reiner moved in, the colossal blonde was friendly and was all for drinking that night. “Levi, will you come to sit with me whilst I get ready?” Jean asked, “cig?” Levi asked, “you read my mind.” Jean replied, “Erwin, we’re going for a fag. Are you coming?” The blonde nodded and followed the two to the bench.

“Tell me about yourself Erwin; I wanna get to know my friend’s best friend and flatmate,” Jean announced as he waited for Levi to give him the straight. “Well, what do you wanna know?” Erwin asked with a smile. “Just anything and everything,” Jean said with a smile taking the straight from the raven. The two listened quietly to Erwin. Jean interrupted once or twice to ask questions. “Wow, so that big rover is yours?” Jean asked Erwin, nodded.

“Wowww, and I thought I was lucky getting my A-Class Hatchback Merc,” Jean said, blowing out the smoke through his nose. “Yeah, I saw your Merc, I have to admit I was jealous,” Erwin replied kindly. “I got it for my 17th, so it's not that new, but it's still nice,” Jean said as he tapped the ash from the smoke. “He figured out I was French in a few seconds,” Levi said, pointing at Jean. “Really?” Erwin asked, genuinely shocked. “Your accent is almost gone I’d say, you only have it after you’ve talked to your mother in French.” The blonde said, taking a long drag, “he’s French too.” The raven announced. “Aw, Levi you finally have another French pal!” The blonde said excitedly.

“The insurance must have been insane on your car though when you first got it,” Erwin said to Jean. He nodded and shrugged, “my dad insisted I go with a Merc, he’s a sales rep for Mercedes so to him it makes sense. He could get it cheaper anyway. So he did.” Jean said as he finished his smoke and stubbed out the end.

“Shall we go get ready then?” Jean asked. The two nodded and headed to the flat building; the group passed a familiar car. Levi looked at it quizzically but chose to ignore the vehicle as they got in the lift and headed upstairs to get ready. The raven flopped onto Jean’s bed as the ashen male got ready, “will we go out clubbing?” Jean asked, “Nah, its not my type of atmosphere.” Levi said, staring at the photo frames on Jean’s bedside table.

“Jean, are you gay?” Levi asked, staring at a picture of the male on holiday. “no, why?” He asked the raven held up a picture of Jean kissing another guy’s cheek. “Oh, that’s my best friend, Marco. We got pissed, and that’s all I can remember of that night.” Jean replied. “I see,” Levi said, gently setting the picture down, and staring at Jean. The taller male was getting changed; he was looking at himself in the mirror. “You and Erwin?” Jean asked the raven made a noise of confusion. “You two are gay together?” He asked, “No, well, I mean. I’m gay. Erwin would be gay but he’s kinda like.” The raven made a wiggly hand motion, “but we’re not together.” Levi explained.

Jean nodded quietly, he pulled on a t-shirt and a nice belt and turned to look at the raven. “I’m ready.” Jean said proudly, “I like your belt.” Levi said, staring at it. It was a nice belt, the raven got up, and the two crossed the hall to Levi’s room. “I like how I live opposite you. We can sit in our doorways having late night chats and all.”

Jean said. The two got in and lay on the raven’s bed. Music was already blasting from the kitchen, the two murmured in French whilst the others got ready. “I told Erwin to knock on the wall when its time to start drinking,” Levi explained. Jean nodded with a yawn. “We need to get pictures together, so that in 3rd year on our last night out we can recreate these pictures,” Jean said, earning a laugh from Levi. “That sounds like a plan,” he said as the two took a multitude of pictures.

A quiet knock on the wall stopped the two as they sat up and headed to the kitchen, Reiner was queueing a playlist on his Alexa. “Wait it’s 7 pm, are we seriously drinking?” Moblit asked, “uhhhh yeah. Lighten up Moblit.” Levi said as he grabbed the vodka. Jean got out his mixers for the group, “Hi, we’ve not met yet have we?” Reiner said to Levi. The raven shook his head, “I’m Reiner, Reiner Braun.” He said with a dazzlingly wide smile. “Levi.” The raven replied, shaking his hand.

“That’s some pretty serious stuff there Levi,” Reiner said looking at the vodka that was clenched tightly in the raven’s hand. “I’m a pretty serious guy Reiner.” Levi bit back taking a long swig, the blonde looked shocked for a second before laughing and taking a swig of his drink. “What are you studying?” he asked, Hange turned the lights out and turned on her disco lights. “Sports science,” Levi replied, the brunette turned up the music to an ear-shattering level. “what?” Reiner said, cupping his ear, the raven sighed and spoke close to Reiner’s ear.

“Sports science!” He repeated. “Ohh! I’m doing that too!” He yelled back. The raven looked around for Jean and Erwin. Jean had found a holographic bucket hat and was dancing around on the sofas with his new hat. Even Mike was loosening up, the drinks kept flowing, and the music kept blaring.

The raven was buzzed, in a new flat with friendly flatmates, he felt himself begin to unwind and throw caution to the wind. Levi was mid karaoke with Jean when he had the overwhelming urge to use the bathroom. “Jean!” The raven yelled, “Jean!” He yelled again shaking the ashen male’s arm. “I need to use the bathroom!” Levi yelled at the other male. “Me too!” Jean yelled back. The two headed to Jean’s room.

Jean was staggering down the hall, singing his version of Dancing Queen, the raven laughed and followed his friend into his room. He was making sure his new friend didn’t fall somewhere and get hurt when Jean’s feet got tangled in the washing he left in his bathroom and slipped to the floor. The two fell about screeching with laughter. “Stop I’ll piss myself!” Jean screamed as he heaved himself up onto the toilet seat.

“You need to pull your trousers down!” Levi yelled at the ashen male. “I know!” Jean yelled back, the ashen male sorted himself out whilst Levi waited outside. Jean took his sweet time in the bathroom, Levi almost contemplated running across to his bathroom, but in his state, he would not be able to make it across the hall. “I’m done now!” Jean yelled as he sat on the floor of the bathroom. “I need to piss,” Levi said, staring at Jean.

“I won’t look,” Jean mumbled, resting his head on the wall. (Jean couldn’t keep his eyes open even if he tried.) The raven shook his head and relieved himself. He washed his hands extremely thoroughly and stared at Jean. The ashen male was mumbling something in his drunken state. “What?” Levi asked, “VIVE LA FRANCCCCCCCCCEEEEE!!” Jean yelled at the top of his lungs, “did you wash your hands?” Levi asked, “yesssss…” Jean replied, “let's go back to the party. I want to drink.” He mumbled, “I think you’ve had enough.” Levi replied with a smile. “No!” Jean snapped, pulling himself up and forcing his eyes open.

“I’m ready.” He replied, “lets fucking rock and roll buckaroo.” He said with an uncharacteristically stern expression. The raven burst out laughing as the two returned to the party. The party raged on until the early morning, Jean and Levi were sat on the sofa completely smashed.

Levi’s head rested on Jean’s shoulder music blared. The lights shone dazzling the survivors, “did we all survive?” Levi slurred out, “oh my God. Levi’s completely fucked, his accent is so strong now.” Moblit said, staring at Erwin. The tall blonde was slowly slow dancing with Hange. “Oh yeah, that happens to him when he gets pissed. What time is it?” the blonde asked, looking around for a clock, “ALEPTHA!” Levi yelled, staring at the Alexa on the kitchen counter. The device made no effort to listen to the drunk Frenchman on the sofa.

“ALEPTHA!” He yelled again, and yet again, the machine didn’t listen to him. “Fucking racist bitch,” he mumbled, finishing his drink before throwing his plastic cup at her. “Levi! Don’t abuse my wife!” Hange yelled at the raven. “You married a racist; you’re an accessory to racism.” He slurred, flipping her off and snuggling into Jean. The ashen male held the raven tightly in his arms and put the bucket hat on his friend.

* * *

The group eventually made it to bed but not without a few casualties. Levi rolled his ankle and bashed his head off the doorframe; Jean rolled both his ankles; Hange broke her glasses and Erwin sprained his fingers, trying to open the fridge door. The group were all woken up by the slam of the kitchen door; Levi’s head felt as if it was being split open. The raven whimpered and pulled his pillows over his head; the sunlight hurt his head as he fumbled for the blind cord.

He finally got brave enough to open his eyes, to his shock, he found a large bottle of water and paracetamol next to his bed, along with the lifesaving drink and paracetamol was a small note. ‘To hungover Levi, love from sober Levi.’ He popped the pills and guzzled the water. Only stopping to pant heavily, he made an effort to leave the bed and go to the bathroom until his ankle almost gave out from under him, hissing and hopping around his room he leant against the wall trying to remember how he damaged his ankles. With his memory failing him, he hobbled to the door and cracked it open and padded in. He found his phone in the sink; he had several missed messages from his mother.

After giving his mother the rundown of the night to his best recollection whilst he cold hosed his ankle, he tried to remember the events of the night. He went through the pictures on his phone; there were so many polaroid pictures on his camera roll, lots of Jean, even more of Hange, some nice group pictures, and some not so nice group pictures.

The raven sighed as he dried off his ankle and hobbled to Jean’s room. He knocked gently, the ashen male answered in a giant fluffy blanket, “why are you such a fucking mood.” Levi mumbled as he stared at his friend, “I’m hungry.” Jean murmured, “me too.” Levi replied the raven knocked on Erwin’s door. The blonde opened the door, looking dishevelled and hungover.

“We’re hungry.” Levi said, looking up at Erwin, “we missed McDonald’s breakfast by a landslide.” Erwin replied, his voice deep and scratchy from sleep, Jean’s hair was stuck up in every angle as was Levi’s. “Let's go to the kitchen, inspect the damage and wake everyone else up,” Erwin mumbled, he knocked on the other doors and the group reunited in the kitchen. “It’s not that bad,” Reiner said, rubbing his eyes. The group cleaned up the empty cups, the sticky surfaces, the pile of polaroids were left on the coffee table miraculously having survived last night.

Hange immediately went through the collection finding the best ones. “I’m hungry,” Jean repeated, “do you want to order something?” Reiner asked the ashen male shrugged, Levi rested his head on Jean. “There’s a place that does all-day dessert, that’s close enough to breakfast,” Hange suggested. The group agreed on that, and various members disappeared to look after themselves. Jean, Reiner, Erwin and Levi were the only ones who remained in the kitchen.

Reiner was getting a bag of frozen peas for Levi’s ankles, and Jean had two bags of frozen turkey dinosaurs wrapped around his ankles. “Who slammed the door this morning?” Levi asked as he stole some of Jean’s blanket. “I dunno, I thought we were all asleep,” Reiner replied, rubbing his face. “Who has chundered, we need to make the chunder chart. Who’s gonna be leading so far.” Jean piped up, “I think you’ll find that’ll be you, Jean.” Reiner said, with a smirk. “fuck off it isn’t.” He replied, barely opening his eyes.

The two discussed who would be on the chunder chart until the door slamming shut again indicated the appearance of a new arrival. The raven opened his eyes to have his eyes connect with Caribbean green irises. The raven could feel his blood boil, “you.” He growled out, the change in tone caused Jean to open his eyes wide to look at the current discord between the two. “Levi?” The brunette, with gorgeous eyes, asked. “Wait, who is that? Why do you know each other?” Reiner asked the brunette shifted uncomfortably. “I’m Eren, and I’m supposed to be living here with you guys.” Eren spluttered out, “Eren almost ruined my life.” Levi replied, staring the brunette down.

* * *

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Et moi? Je suis né à Lyon.  
> (means I was born in Lyon)  
> Non, je vis au Royaume-Uni depuis l'âge de huit ans.  
> (No, I've been living in the UK since I was eight.)
> 
> Kudos and Comments are highly rated around here, pls help ya boi out don’t forget to follow me on socials! I interact with readers and shitpost :) also!!! Any questions about this fic drop them in my inbox!  
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	3. N

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* * *

“Okay, let’s call clam down here shall we?” Reiner said, staring at the raven. “This is a new place with new people. I don’t doubt what happened was bad but let’s all try to talk this out before we start a fight.” Reiner said, attempting to stand, “what did you even do?” Reiner asked, “He almost got me kicked out of school if I had gotten kicked out I would have gone on the young offender's list.” Levi glared at the brunette. “What the fuck?!” Jean exclaimed, “yeah what the fuck man, I mean no one likes a narc, but when someone else’s life is riding on it what the fuck man.” Reiner said blinking at Eren. The brunette was shifting uncomfortably in the doorway, “I can move accommodation.” Eren suggested, “everywhere is full, my friend tried to move. Everything is booked up.” Reiner replied, standing up.

“Okay so let’s hear the whole story because it’s not fair. Reiner go get Mike and everyone.” Erwin said, becoming the voice of reason. The rugby player headed to retrieve the rest of the group, the group, filed in and listened to Erwin speak. “I feel like I’m in court,” Jean whispered to Levi, the raven tried to keep his angry face but lost his composure and snorted. Erwin retold the tale of Eren and Levi’s old days where they would always fight, giving a balanced view despite Levi’s distaste. “But I’m not that person anymore! It was a really really shitty thing to do, and I’m so sorry, Levi. I am sorry, Levi. What I did was inexcusable, and I’m sorry. I don’t blame you if you hate me, but please can we just get along, so it makes it easier to live with?” Eren asked pleadingly.

“Why’d it take you so long to apologise to me?” Levi demanded, “every time I went to apologise, you walked away and ignored me. I did tell them what I said after they put you on trial. I told the truth and said that they knew what I said was true and that it didn’t matter. But it does matter; I’m not the same person I was back then, I was a horrible, twisted, angry person, I’m not the same as I was back then! I promise to you I’ll make it up to you somehow.” The brunette promised, “so please don’t hate me.” He begged, “you don’t have to accept my apology now, just please think on it.” Eren begged.

All eyes were on Levi, “I don’t hate you. I _loathe_ you.” The raven spat as he limped to his room Jean hot on his tail, the tall ashen male snuck in before Levi could slam the door on him. ”Explain, I am missing key details here. What did he say that caused such strife?” Jean demanded in French. The raven sighed and sat next to his friend on the bed, “you can’t tell this to anyone. You have to pinkie promise”. The raven replied as the two began to converse in French. “Of course mon Cherie.” He replied, wrapping his pinkie around Levi’s.

“I am poor; I have no money, I’m here on a full scholarship, I get barely enough from my grants to fund accommodation, my mother worked two jobs to try to keep our family afloat after my dad walked out on us after coming here. I live on a council estate; we were on benefits for such a long time that it was hard to tell where the next meal was coming from. I never had extravagant presents for Christmas or birthdays. It was always clothes, the only experience I had of toys was Erwin. I never had anything nice it was always second hand. Not that there’s a problem with that at all. I was so embarrassed, and all the other kids went on school trips, I couldn’t afford them, I got so angry about being poor I acted out. Often winding up my peers, Eren was an easy target because he had a hairpin trigger. I’d say one thing, and he’d kick-off, he was normally held back by his adopted sister Mikasa, and his friend Armin. But one time I took it too far, and I can’t even remember what I said. It was probably really awful, and I admit whatever I said was wrong. So he bit back, ‘it’s no wonder your dad walked out on you because you turned out as you did. You’re pathetic, such an embarrassing waste of space, you’re not even as tall as a 12-year-old. People like you who live off benefits and live off council estates will never amount to anything in life. People like you deserve what they get; you’re the reason the country is struggling.’ So yeah, that kinda left a sour taste.” Jean hissed as he listened to the raven.

“So obviously we went at it, I broke his nose or something. I don't know I saw red, but because it was so bad the school wanted to press charges. His parents wouldn’t because they probably knew I’d be unable to pay it back. His dad is a leading surgeon in the hospital local to us; he’s a big deal. He had a picturesque upbringing, and I’ve not. So a lot of the time the blame would always be shifted to me because I’ve not had that perfect upbringing, even though 90% of the time it wasn’t my fault. He would always say something or do something first.” Levi explained, “that’s fucked up.” Jean replied, “I don’t care. I don’t like him. I don’t care how much he’s changed. I don’t like him.” Jean decided, “why is Erwin taking his side?”

Jean asked. The raven sighed, “Erwin likes to be on no one’s side. He likes to show both sides of the argument, so that’s what he’s trying to do. I understand that, but I’m still fucking angry that he’s done that. I’m his best friend, he should back me up not try to downplay the whole scenario.” The raven spat, Jean nodded in agreement. The two were pulled from their intense conversation by a knock at the door, Jean opened it, “your guy’s food is here”. Moblit said kindly, offering the bag to Jean. “Oh, thanks, Moblit,” Jean said, inspecting the bag. “We’ve taken ours out so you can take the bag if you want.” He said kindly, “Is Levi okay, though? He looked agitated earlier. We’re all here for him if he wants to talk.” Moblit said kindly. Jean turned back to look at his friend.

“I just need some time to think things over. I’ll be okay Moblit.” Levi replied from within the room. “Okay, do you guys want some more frozen things for your ankles?” Moblit asked gently, “that would be very helpful, thank you.” Levi replied. Moblit left to retrieve frozen things; Jean carried over his laptop for the two. “Move your ass over. We’re going to watch some movies and eat our food and try to recover from our hangovers.” Jean said, getting comfy in Levi’s bed. The two got cosy with their food and positioned the laptop when Erwin came in with cold bags for their ankles. “Erwin do not lecture me right now; I’m not in the mood. If you’re here to be an asshole, go away.” The raven said, “I’m here to deliver your frozen goods for your damaged bodies.” He said gently placing it on their bad ankles. “What are you watching?” Erwin asked, “Shrek.” Levi replied, looking at the blonde, “you wanna watch it on the big TV?” Erwin asked, “the big TV is in the kitchen, though. I don’t want to see Eren right now.” The raven said, “it might help if you talk it out.” Erwin suggested, “not right now, I need time Erwin.”

The raven said gently cutting his pancakes into exact slices and delicately eating them. “But he feels awful, I mean talk about trial by fire Levi.” The blonde tried to lighten the mood, “Erwin I swear, if you talk about him again anywhere near me within these 24 hours, I will stab you.” The raven said, pointing his plastic knife at Erwin. “Alright, okay, duly noted.” He said, holding his hands up, “oh, our last two flatmates are moving in. They’re both doing culinary stuff, so they’re going to be chefs. They’re called Connie and Sasha.” Erwin said with a smile, “how do we know that?” Levi asked, finishing a large amount of his food.

“You know who asked if he was the last to move in and they told him who was the last.” Erwin replied, “oh, and Dr Jaeger and Mrs Jaeger are still here. They wanted to talk to you.” The blonde said, Levi sighed and rolled his eyes. “Send them in.” He huffed out, “do I need to leave?” Jean asked the raven shook his head. The two adults entered the room, “Levi, I’m so sorry about our son’s past behaviour, what he did was unacceptable. I blame myself for his behaviour. I should have been stricter with him and watched who he hung around with and listened to. You are such a sweet boy you never deserved what our son did to you.” Carla gushed out. “I was pretty horrible too Carla. Please don’t blame yourself.” The raven said kindly to the woman, “he has changed so much though, please do try to forgive him. I won’t bug you with it. But please, he’s not the same person, that horrible twisted person is gone, nothing like that remains.” She said as her voice wobbled. “It’s okay, Carla, you and Dr Jaeger are lovely people, and I don’t think any less of you,” Levi replied gently. “What have you done to your ankles Levi?” Garisha asked, “oh I rolled my ankle a few times.” Levi explained, “what about cutting down on your smoking?” Garisha asked the raven froze, “I know you’ve been smoking for a long time Levi. I caught you smoking behind the school a long time ago”. The older man winked, “I have cut down. I used to do eight a day, and now I do six or less.” He replied, “I’m very impressed, Levi.” He said with a smile.

* * *

Weeks passed, and the tension between the two males remained. Connie and Sasha certainly didn’t help the tension. They turned it into a ‘us vs them’ which more often than not resulted in Jean giving the two clowns a piece of his mind. The tension only grew when the four sports science students were assigned to be in a group together for their lectures. Reiner took the lead and tried to play the mediator but to no avail, “so, Jean Levi is there anything you’d like to do in the assignment?” Reiner asked the two shook their heads. “I’ll do anything I don’t mind.” Levi replied, “that makes my job easy. Thanks, guys, so if you two do task one, and four, Eren and I will do task two and three. We have to present this to the group too, we’re allowed notes but learn what you’re going to say.” He said, writing down the notes on his assignment. The group worked together quietly, the two French students chartered in French occasionally, “Levi, are you doing anything tonight?” Reiner asked, “no, why?”

The raven replied, “I was wondering if you wanted to go get a drink at the bar?” Reiner asked, “oh, no, thanks.” He replied, not looking up from his work, “oh, sure no problem.” Reiner said kindly with a smile. Eren was in awe. The brunette followed Reiner out after the lecture. “Reiner, wait up!” Eren called, the tall blonde stopped and turned to him with a smile on his face. “Everything okay?” He asked, “do you like Levi?” Eren asked panting slightly; he was ignoring his phone vibrating urgently in his jean pocket. “I think he’s an interesting character.” Reiner replied, “I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better. But if you have any tips to help me, I’ll gladly take them. I know that you haven’t gotten along with Levi but if you told me what not to do and stuff that would be greatly appreciated.” Reiner said kindly. “Sure! I’ll try to help you out in any way I can.” Eren replied with a fake smile.

The brunette returned to his room, dumping his bag, he sighed. Reiner wouldn’t be good for Levi. He needed someone kind and understanding, not Reiner. Eren paced in his room; he desperately wanted to make things right between him and Levi. Levi was always so cool; he was good at sports and, his work was always top quality, and he had the funniest sense of humour. In Eren’s young mind, his fear of rejection let that admiration fester; it soon turned into jealousy and came out in snarky comments and mean words. He felt himself cringe; he would never allow himself to do that again. He wanted to make things right, but he had no idea how to. Flopping into his desk chair, he sighed loudly, where to begin? What did Levi like? The more he thought, the more he realised he had no idea of who Levi was.

‘I’ll have to ask someone who knows Levi to get to know him’ Eren mumbled as he got out a piece of paper, Jean was out of the question. Jean was an arrogant arsehole; he always was near Levi and told him everything. Erwin was looking like the best point, but he was unsure if their past would get in the way of talking to the blonde. Heaving a sigh, he groaned and rested his head on the desk. He had started to grow his hair out since school; it was now long enough to tie back into a rather attractive bun; he had also shot up and grown even taller. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed loudly, he got up and headed to Erwin’s room, knocking politely on the door, he was greeted by a “come in!” From the other side. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door, “hey, Erwin.” Eren began, the blonde smiled kindly, “I’m not disturbing you am I?” The brunette asked Erwin shook his head.

“What can I do for you, Eren?” Erwin asked kindly, “I want to make it right with Levi, but I want to avoid ways that will make him even more pissed off at me.” Eren explained, “when you and Levi argue, how do you make it up to him?” Eren asked. “That’s a bad example, but when we fight we don’t makeup, we carry on, we only talk about it if its that bad its keeping us up at night. I tell him my feelings and what he says has hurt me, and he says sorry, and we carry on.” The blonde said as he clicked his pen. “Hm, but what can I do? To make it up to him?” Eren asked, “he hates people that constantly mither on at him, I know because I do it and he gets so pissed off.” Erwin said with a smile, “what about gifts? Flowers?” Eren asked, “if you get him a gift and its something he likes, don’t put your name on it or say I’m sorry. Just get him things and leave it outside the door.” Erwin explained, “are you writing this down? Because this is essential information.” Erwin asked Eren began writing it down on his phone. “What about romantic gestures?” Eren asked, feeling his cheeks warm, and his ears burn.

“You’re barely talking as friends; I don’t think he’ll like it if you make romantic gestures,” Erwin said in a deadpan tone, Eren stared at Erwin pleadingly. He sighed and shook his head, “I’ll have to ask him. I’m not sure on that front we don’t talk about it.” Erwin replied, “but I assume that cleanliness and good hygiene is at the top of the list.” Erwin said with a tired smile. Weeks passed, the hostility remained between the two, “my mum is coming to see me this weekend.” Jean announced as the two were laying on Levi’s soft rug in his room, “she’s bringing my younger siblings.” He added, Levi felt himself cringe. “I know you hate kids, but they’re so cute. They’ll change your mind, I promise.” Jean said. “there is nothing anybody can say to me to convince me to change my mind.” Levi said, staring at his friend. “We’ll see,” Jean said with a smile. “Reiner’s family is coming to see him today with the younger kids,” Jean noted nudging Levi. “Why are you nudging me?" The raven asked, “well if you see how good he is with kids, it might convince you to give the guy a chance.” Jean said with a smirk. Jean cried out as he was battered with smacks, “I am not fucking Reiner Braun,” Levi spat. “We shall see,” Jean mumbled.

Jean eventually pushed Levi out of his room to meet Reiner and his family. Reiner was sat on the sofa next to a younger boy and had two young children climbing over him. “Levi!” Reiner exclaimed in shock, “I didn’t expect you to come out of your room.” He said, looking at the raven. “I wasn’t planning on it, but then Jean dragged me out.” He replied, staring at the sight before him, “This is Carter,” Reiner said, pointing to the younger boy on his right, “this is Ryan, and this is Frans. Ryan is three, Frans is 18 months.” Reiner explained as Ryan hid behind his older brother’s knee. The raven nodded and got a packet of crisps from his cabinet before sitting opposite Reiner; Jean sandwiched Levi in preventing him from running away. “My parents just went to park the car, so they left these troubles with me,” Reiner said, Frans was staring at Levi and bouncing on Reiner’s stomach. The small baby was making small noises, “this makes me miss my little brother and sister.” Jean said with a pout. “I missed them so much, I can’t believe its been three months since I saw them last,” Reiner said, “I facetime them every day but I still miss them so much,” Reiner said holding the youngest baby up with his hand. “I miss my siblings being that small.” Jean gushed, leaning on the raven, cementing him to the sofa.

“They’re annoying I don’t miss it,” Carter piped up, he was playing on his switch. “You’ll miss it when you’re older,” Jean said with a smile. Reiner tickled the youngest baby causing him to scream and laugh; the raven felt his heart warm, the baby was squealing and laughing loudly. “My heart,” Levi whispered to Jean, “I want my dummy.” Ryan mumbled, “I don’t have it, mummy has it.” Reiner replied, “you’re not allowed it in the day.” Carter said in a matter of fact tone. “Is he not?” Reiner asked, “he’s only allowed it when he’s sleeping. He’s not allowed it in the day anymore.” Carter said looking at the smaller boy, “he’s shy, he’s scared of Jean and Levi,” Reiner said hoisting the little boy onto his lap. “Oh, that one is drooling.” Levi pointed out, “babies drool Levi.” Jean replied. “I’ve never been around babies before! Leave me alone!” Levi protested. “Have you not?” Reiner asked the raven nodded. “Do you wanna hold Frans?” he asked, “I don’t know how to hold a baby,” He replied, “come here, I’ll show you,” Reiner said wiping the smaller baby’s mouth. The raven thought about it, “do it, babies are cute.” Jean said, looking at his friend. The raven got off the sofa and sat in the spare space next to Reiner. The blonde gave the raven a quick walkthrough on how to hold a baby. “He likes to bounce and jump on people so he may do that to you,” Reiner explained gently handing the baby to the raven. The baby smiled widely at the raven, Reiner tickled the small baby, making him squeal. Levi could feel himself smile.

“I need to go let my parents in, so Levi look after the little ones for me,” Reiner said, getting up and placing Ryan next to Levi. The raven panicked. “Wait. What?” He asked, looking at Reiner, “I’m just going to the door. I’ll be back in a second.” Reiner promised, heading to the door. Jean had been taking pictures of Levi unknown to him, Reiner returned quickly with his parents. Ryan had stuck to Levi like glue, “do you like Levi now, Ryan?” the tall blonde asked. He nodded shyly, Levi’s only experience of children had been the loud, snotty screeching children in public areas. Which should be controlled and if they couldn’t behave, should simply not be allowed outside where the public has to put up with their idiocy. His mother often scorned him for being so insensitive, but Levi didn’t care children were disgusting. And yet, he couldn’t help but look forwards to meeting Jean’s siblings. Jean hadn’t stopped talking about his siblings all day; he was so excited to see the two young children, his mother arrived quickly. From the second the kids arrived. Jean hadn’t stopped smiling, “Blaise, stop shadowing your brother.” Celine said with a sigh, the small boy had stuck to Jean like glue. He was holding onto Jean’s trouser leg tightly.

Eren had tried to fix things with Levi, but the raven was intent on being complicated. Despite listening to Erwin’s every tip and suggestion, it did nothing to ease the tension. The brunette refused to give up hope; he shuffled into the kitchen to see Levi sat on the sofa with Jean’s siblings; they were watching a video together quietly, seeing the two interacting warmed Eren’s heart to the core. Jean was in the kitchen; he stared at Eren intensely, “hey,” Eren said warmly to the others in the room. “Hi,” Levi replied as he rested his chin on the small girl’s head, “are you all excited for Christmas?” Eren asked as he opened the fridge, “yeah,” the raven replied engrossed in the programme on his phone. “Do you know when you’re all going home? Connie and Sasha mentioned something about we could have a Christmas dinner here before everyone goes.” Eren said as he pulled out a yoghurt, “that’d be nice, who would cook it all?” Celine asked, making her presence known. “Connie and Sasha said they would; they’re culinary students so they’d do it,” Eren replied sitting opposite the raven and the child. Celine was seated next to her child and the raven.

“If they’re serious about it, they better put it in the group chat before everyone goes,” Jean said as he cut up an apple. Eren nodded and messaged into the group with the idea, “when are you going, Levi?” The brunette asked, “not sure yet, whenever Erwin goes, I’ll go.” Levi replied as he looked in the group chat at the messages that were slowly accumulating. Jean was cutting up slices of apple for his siblings, “are you excited to go home for Christmas?” Eren asked the raven. “Yeah, I’ve not seen my mum in a long time, so I’m excited to see her.” Levi replied blandly, “I’m excited to go home. I can see my parents and my half brother too. He’s coming up to get me when we finish lectures.” Eren explained. “Oh, right. I see.” Levi replied, Zeke Jaeger, he was on the same wavelength as Eren.

Zeke was four years older than Eren, but when they were in school together Zeke tormented Levi and made his life hell, “he’s training to be a doctor now, he’s doing well.” Eren explained, Levi couldn’t help but scoff. Zeke a doctor? The man should not be trusted to be anywhere near medical equipment. “He’s training to be a surgeon under my dad,” Eren added, Celine launched into a conversation with Eren about his dad. “Oh, mum, did you bring the Christmas decorations?” Jean asked the woman, nodded. “I put them in your room.” Jean placed the apples on the coffee table for the small children. Eventually, Jean’s family left, “I’m going to miss them so much,” Jean said with a pout. “I know you will, but we’re home in a few weeks.” Levi replied, “I’m dying for a smoke, though.” The raven replied, Jean agreed, and the two headed to the smoking area. To their surprise, Reiner was at the bench with a group of people. “Oh, hey! Guys, these are my friends from back home.” Reiner explained, Jean and Levi waved and said hello. “This is Annie, Bertholt, Porco Galliard, Marcel Galliard, and Colt,” Reiner said, smiling, “hey,” Levi replied as he pushed the menthol ball into his straight. Jean did the same and lit up, “hi.” He replied kindly.

“What are you studying?” Marcel demanded, “same as Reiner.” Levi replied blandly, the other male eyed him critically. Levi returned the stare; Jean was looking at the other members of the group, smiling at those he made eye contact with. “Marcel, stop trying to be intimidating, it’s not working,” Annie replied. Reiner was beaming at Levi and Bertholdt, “Porco is in the year above us, so he’s been there done that. It’s mainly why we decided to come here.” Reiner explained to the small raven, “are you guys excited to do Christmas here with our flat?” Reiner asked his housemates. “No, I hate Christmas.” Levi replied, “I’m excited.” Jean replied, blowing the smoke out his nose, “Levi is just a Scrooge, we’ll make him enjoy it.” Jean said with a smirk. “Get the mistletoe out, get Levi kissing other people.” Jean joked, the raven cringed. The thought of kissing Reiner or even worse Hange made him sour.

“Kissing Eren under the mistletoe!” Jean cried, “how romantic! What a way to end your lifelong war!” Jean exclaimed loudly. Levi glared and shoved Jean off the bench Reiner was quick to move into Jean’s space. “Do you hate Eren that much?” Reiner asked the raven shrugged. “I dislike him a lot, but he has changed,” Levi admitted, Jean sat between the raven’s legs on the bench. “Stop being so fucking tall; it’s not fair,” Levi mumbled. “You can sit on my lap if you want.” Jean offered, the raven took the offer gladly. “You have such a boney ass!” Jean cried as the raven got comfortable in Jean’s lap. “Really?” Reiner asked, “you’d think it would be nice and plump but no. This bitch got the boniest ass in the land.” Jean said, flicking the ash off his smoke.

* * *

“House meeting!” Jean yelled down the halls with his hands cupped to his mouth; he repeated yelling house meeting until everyone was assembled in the kitchen/living room combo. “okay, so we decided to call his meeting because. As you all know we will be making Christmas dinner together here, 1st December! That means we all need to contribute money towards the dinner, after all the ingredients are bought we’ll do the maths and split up the cost between everyone who will be eating. Reiner if you invite your friends it will be easier to split the money between us all. I’m going to put a list down on the table and please put down any allergies or food you don’t want on your Christmas dinner.” Erwin explained as he put down a piece of paper with everyone’s name’s on.

“I’ll ask my friends if they want to come, but I can’t promise that they will. I don’t know when they’re leaving to go back home.” Reiner explained. “That’s fine if anyone else has any other friends that want to come put their down,” Erwin said kindly. “So, another thing whilst we’re all here, bins they need emptying when they are full. If you make a mess clean it up, it's fair enough when there's a party. Everyone leaves it in a mess, we all work together to clean that up, but its when you have people constantly making a mess and not cleaning their pots and pans up, is when it does become an issue.” Erwin explained.

“Levi always does the cleaning up like the vacuuming and the mopping, he cleans everything. But he isn’t our cleaner, you should clean your own mess up. It’s your responsibility.” Erwin said finally. “And yes, I didn’t mean to turn this into a lecture. But I did, because I’m getting quite pissed off seeing Levi cleaning every night.” Erwin announced. “He doesn’t have to clean it.” Connie piped up, “no I don’t, but its when it’s obstructing the sink and the sides someone has to do something about it. It also attracts pests, mould, and its filthy, how can you live like that?” Levi asked glowering at the two clowns. “Sorry, mom, sorry, dad,” Sasha mumbled. Levi snapped, he exploded at the two, the whole group was left in shock at Levi’s yelling fit at the two. Connie looked close to tears, Sasha was bright red in the face.

“Why the fuck do you always make it your business to get involved in my life? In my past? You take everything I say and twist it and spit it back out to everyone saying that I’m snide and that I’ve been spreading shit about them when I haven’t!” Levi yelled, “you do it all the fucking time with Eren and Reiner, constantly trying to pin them against each other and me. You can’t play with people like that! Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Levi roared finishing his rant. A silence fell about the room as the raven flopped down onto the sofa. Reiner cleared his throat uncomfortably, “that needed to be said,” Jean said, “you two have gotten so rude. There’s being a prankster and a joker, then there's being a twat. You two walk that line every day and more often than not fall into the twat category.” Jean added.

The two apologised, and everyone slowly left, Levi headed to Erwin’s room with the blonde. Jean closely behind the two, Levi flopped onto Erwin’s bed angrily. The blonde sat in his chair heavily, “that wasn’t a lecture, was it?” Erwin asked as his leg bounced urgently and he tapped a spare pen on the desk. The raven sat up and looked at his friend, “no.” He replied he made eye contact with Jean. He whispered to Jean, “do you mind if I talk to Erwin quickly alone? I’ll message you after I’ve talked to him.” The raven whispered in French, Jean nodded and smiled. “I’ve got some work to catch up on, you did a great speech, Erwin. You’ll make a great lawyer one day.” Jean said kindly as he headed out. Levi locked the door after Jean left. “You’re going to break the damn pen,” Levi said, taking it gently from Erwin. He perched on the desk next to Erwin. “What’s going on in there,” Levi asked, tapping Erwin’s head.

“I don’t want them to think I was having a go at them, I don’t want to cause problems or us to fall out, we’re supposed to be having a Christmas dinner together, it’ll be so awkward if everyone is fighting,” Erwin rushed out. “We all know that the meeting was aimed at Connie and Sasha, they’re the housemates from hell,” Levi mumbled. “But how can we be sure?!” Erwin demanded, “I’ll ask the others and tell them that it wasn’t aimed at them.” Levi said, fishing out his phone. “No! We can’t.” Erwin cried, frantically reaching for the phone. “Erwin, chill. Have you taken your meds today? Your anxiety is off the charts.” Levi replied, looking at the pill packet. “You’ve not been taking them?...” he asked trailing off, “I had an important paper due, the pills make me sleepy, so I stopped taking them to focus and stay up late on work.” Erwin explained, “take one now,” Levi demanded.

The blonde took a pill and sighed, “Is that why you got so twitchy whenever Jean and I hung out?” Levi asked, Erwin, nodded reluctantly. “I can’t help but feel like you’re gonna leave me for Jean, you two have some sort of bond I can’t describe it. You clicked right off the bat with him. I’ve never seen you take to someone so fast other than me, Farlan and Izzie.” Erwin explained. He sighed loudly and looked at his friend, “it doesn’t help that you to can speak French, so you speak French together all the time and have secret conversations.” The blonde stressed, “You are my best friend Erwin, and I’m sorry that Jean and I have you made you feel secondary. Jean and I indeed get along with each other insanely well. I don’t know why we do, but we do. We talk in French when we want to bitch about someone else without worry that someone will misinterpret what we’re saying.”

Levi explained, “I’m not going to leave you for Jean, you’re my best friend in the world, he’s like my university best friend. You’re my forever best friend.” Levi explained, “but I feel cheated.” Erwin said exasperated. Levi looked at him confused, the raven kicked off his slippers and rested his feet on Erwin’s thigh. “I had to work away at you for ages for you to even spend time with me out of school and things. With you and Jean, it was instant, you even went clubbing with him. You never went clubbing with me,” Erwin said, looking at his friend, “do you like him more than me? Is he more exciting than me? Is he more fun than me?” Erwin asked, “no, I only went clubbing with him once, I was too smashed off my face to remember what it was like, I don’t like him more than you, and no he’s not more exciting than you. I like you both for different reasons, you’re my rock, you can ground me, you’re reliable, funny, kind, and loving. You’re always there for me, you’re always gonna be there for me, you’re that type of person. Jean is a wild spirit, he pushes and pushes me out of my shell and pushes me into scenarios that I wouldn’t normally put myself in if I’m with you. We’re both sensible and rational, Jean is wild and irrational. I don’t prefer it to us, and how we hang out, I like both equally.” Levi explained.

The blonde took a while before replying, “okay.” He said finally. “Can we watch a movie?” He asked he had his hands on the raven’s ankles. “Yes, do you want Jean to come in? I think he’s talking with Eren.” Levi said. “I’d rather it just me and you,” Erwin said, resting his head on Levi’s knee. “Okay, I’ll just go get my snacks. You set up the movie and everything else,” the raven said gently removing Erwin from himself. He passed Jean and Eren in the hall. “Is Erwin okay?” Jean asked, “yeah, we’re gonna watch a movie. We’re getting snacks.” Levi replied to the taller male. He disappeared into the kitchen, “what did Levi mean by Connie and Sasha, putting Reiner and me against each other?” Eren asked, Jean, snorted. “Well, you both like Levi and only one can date him. My best guess is that they’ve been playing angel and devil with both of you.” Jean replied. “Telling you one thing when actually he’s said the opposite,” Jean explained. Eren looked stunned. “No, they’ve not told me anything, the only thing they do is eat all my food and blame it on you or Reiner.”

Eren explained, “so that’s who’s been eating my food…” Jean grumbled, the raven emerged from the kitchen, arms laden down with food. He headed back to Erwin’s room and pushed open the door. “Was Erwin okay?” Eren asked Jean, the ashen male shrugged. “He was fine when I left.” Jean replied, “are you and Levi gonna go clubbing again?” Eren asked, “I had to get Levi absolutely off his face for him to go drinking with me.” Jean replied, “I’ll be lucky to get him to go to the pub.” He added, scratching his chin. “Okay, humour me. Answer me this truthfully, do you hate me.” Eren asked, Jean, looked caught off guard for a second. “I don’t hate you, but I don’t like you. I strongly dislike you, but it wouldn’t be above me to be nice to you maybe once.” Jean replied. “Okay, why is that.” Eren asked, “dunno, you just annoy me. You just have a punchable face, and you’re nice all the time, stop being nice, it looks fake.” Jean mumbled, Eren snorted loudly. “And because you hurt my best friend, that is inexcusable. Crime worse than death.” Jean added as he picked the skin on his elbow, “oh I see, that’s fair enough.” Eren replied, “I have some work to do so I’ll see you later, friend.” Eren said as he left. “Don’t call me that we’re not friends,” Jean replied quickly.

* * *

Days passed, and all traces of hostility within the house vanished, Connie and Sasha cleaned up their messes, and they gifted Levi an apology basket full of his favourite snacks to mend the divide between them. “Are we drinking tonight?” Levi asked, Jean, nodded, “we’re also going clubbing, me, you, Erwin, Reiner, and Eren are going clubbing.” Jean pushed, the raven groaned loudly. “Why, Eren?!” He demanded, “because he might be fun on a night out, and it’s December. It’s almost Christmas, that means being nice to people Scrooge.” Jean said as he put on his cologne.

The group of lads headed out to the local club, Levi immediately made a beeline to the bar and ordered double of the strongest thing on the bar. If he was going to club with Eren Jaeger, he at least had to be smashed enough to not remember the events of the night. The raven knocked back several vodkas, tequilas, whiskeys, and he topped it all off with a gin mixer. Making his way to his friends he began dancing with them, the alcohol slowly took hold. “I need to piss!” Levi yelled to his friends, putting his drink down he hurried to the toilet. Fumbling with his fly, he unzipped himself and leaned against the cubical wall heavily. His head spinning, giggling to himself he made his way back to the dance floor after thoroughly washing his hands. Picking up his drink, he downed the drink, cringing as the taste of botanicals hit his tongue, setting the cup down, he began dancing with his friends.

They were dancing for a good while, Levi was enjoying himself, the alcohol was hitting him hard though, he stumbled several times bumping into people, he held onto Reiner and the others to stay upright, black dots swam across his vision obscuring his sight, the music faded in and out. “Levi!” Jean yelled in his ear, causing the raven to throw his head back to look at Jean, “A photographer is going around!” Jean cried, the group waved him down and got a picture all together. The flashing stunned Levi for a few seconds, the pounding music, the jostling, the vibrations, it all caught up on the raven insanely fast. Black dots filled his vision.

* * *

_The playlist for this fic[🎵](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZcwslNdu308UhKub0wwe3?si=dr8ne4I7TruY0jbpsb-DOg)_   
_My discord[🔉](https://discord.gg/6na8avK)_


	4. E

The raven groaned loudly. His throat was so dry he felt as though he had swallowed ten tons of sand. Waking up in an unfamiliar bed wasn’t the norm for him, and he was not about to make it a habit. Looking around the raven realised he was in his room. The person he slept with that night was out cold; their loud snores hurt the raven’s head. ‘Who even was this?’ he thought to himself. His back was aching severely, and his head swam; his nausea increased as the raven looked around the room. Clothes were strewn about the room; he jumped as a pair of arms entrapped his waist and a something hard pressed against his back.

“mornin’ sexy.” The groggy voice rumbled out in French. “I missed you.” They added kissing his neck, “Farlan…?” Levi asked, “who else makes you scream like that?” he asked, pressing small kisses to the raven’s neck, causing him to squirm. “What are you doing here?” Levi asked, relaxing into the touch, “you called me and begged me to come over.” He replied. “What happened last night?” Levi asked, “you called me at one and begged me to come over, and I quote, ‘I want you so bad; please come over. Please please come over and fuck me so hard, please, I want your cock so bad’ so I hopped in my car and came.” Farlan whispered into Levi’s neck, making him shudder.

The raven suppressed a moan, “but you’re like 2 hours away, and we’re not together anymore.” Levi reminded the blonde, “I know. But I would give anything to have you back.” His husky voice was dripping with lust. Admittedly it was nice to have Farlan back; the blonde knew his body better than anyone. He knew what buttons to press to break the raven’s iron defence. “You wanna go again?” The blonde asked, sucking on the raven’s neck, Levi moaned softly into the touch. “But my back hurts…” Levi trailed off, “I’ll be gentle.” The blonde promised, Levi hadn’t had any action since the two broke off their relationship in January, it was now December.

The two had reached a mutual understanding, with Levi starting important A-Level exams, and Farlan’s apprenticeship stepping up a gear they both didn’t have time for each other anymore. Farlan was an apprentice at an architect’s he often had to work in the field with the builders doing manual labour and helping with planning and structural analysis of buildings. He hoped to become an architect after his apprenticeship, “has there been anyone else?” Farlan asked nibbling on the raven’s neck. The raven sighed happily and shook his head, “do you have a condom?” Levi asked the blonde nodded. “You didn’t seem to bother about that last night.” He commented, giving the raven a sharp slap on the ass.

He struggled to contain his moan, he clamped his hands over his mouth and glared at the blonde. His hips and back ached like there was no tomorrow, “want me to wear one?” Farlan asked, positioning the raven carefully, Levi nodded. The blonde pulled one out of the bag next to the bed, and the two went at it, Farlan look care of the raven. He kept his promise to be gentle with the raven. The raven moaned Farlan’s name like a mantra, the squeaking of the bed muffled the moans and the pants from both males, the odd cry or two was louder than the squeaks and lewd sounds, but the bed mainly muffled the noises. “Levi’s getting fucking railed by the sounds of it,” Jean whispered to Erwin; a small group had assembled in Erwin’s room to hear the tales of last night.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Reiner mumbled, “Farlan.” Erwin replied, “Levi’s ex,” He added. “But he got railed last night how can he go again?” Jean asked, “oh God, don’t even get me started on last night.” Moblit mumbled, “I think the whole building was aware that Levi was fucking.” He added. “Why did we meet in Erwin’s room, he’s right next to it?” Reiner asked, “we weren’t sure if they were fucking, we wanted to check before bursting in and burning our eyes with the sight of naked Levi.” Jean replied. “He’s not staying for our Christmas dinner is he?” Reiner asked Erwin nodded. “He had originally planned to come and see Levi today they planned it a few weeks back.” The blonde said. “Where’s Eren? Is he still asleep?” Jean asked.

“He’d be lucky to sleep through that,” Moblit mumbled, Hange was positively quaking with excitement. “My favourite munchkin is getting laid!” She squealed, Eren shuffled in looking dishevelled and tired. “Who’s blowing Levi’s back out?” Eren asked tiredly, “his ex.” Erwin replied with a yawn, “what time even is it?” Eren asked. “9 am,” Reiner grumbled out, “poor Eren, he wants to be the one blowing Levi’s back out.” Jean teased, the brunette flushed bright red and shoved the ashen male. “Dude?” Jean exclaimed, “I was only joking but damn, guess we all know now that you wanna fuck Levi.” Jean spat glaring at the brunette, “honestly, at this point who doesn’t wanna fuck Levi?” Moblit asked, the group grumbled and grovelled mumbling to each other.

“I’m going to get a drink of water.” Eren announced, “I might join you that sounds like a smart—” he was cut off by the increase in volume from the other side of the wall. The group cringed at the lewd moans that came from the other side. “Well, I guess we all know what their cum noises sound like,” Jean announced cringing. “Farlan is a really nice guy; I wish you could have met him properly instead of like this,” Erwin told the group.

The raven eventually regained enough strength to knock on the wall around an hour or two later. He knocked twice lightly on the wall, Erwin shuffled about in his room before knocking on the door and coming in. “Smoke?” Levi asked the blonde nodded. “Where’s Farlan?” Erwin asked, “gone to move his car before the ticket wardens get him.” He replied, “are you decent?” Erwin asked, “no, but throw me those shorts and that hoodie and I’ll be ready fast.” He replied, pointing at the clothes on the floor, the tall blonde picked up the clothes and put them on the raven’s bed. “Want any pain killers?” Erwin asked, “I’ve already had some, two hours ago. So I’m okay,” he replied, pulling the jumper over his head. The blonde turned around to give the raven some privacy as he pulled the shorts up. Hissing loudly, he swung his legs over his mattress.

“You okay?” Erwin asked, peering over his shoulder, “Yeah, it's just been a while.” Levi explained. Eventually mustering the strength to stand on trembling legs like a newborn fawn the two collected Jean and headed to the smoker's bench outside. “Levi you must be freezing in those shorts.” Jean pointed out, the raven was sat on the table his legs hanging off the edge, “I am, but it was the only thing that looked clean.” The raven replied, taking a long drag, “I need to meet this Farlan guy.” Jean said, “no, he’s only staying for lunch then he’s leaving. Never to return.” Levi replied quickly, “but Farlan is so lovely, he should be around more!” Erwin said with a smirk.

“Erwin! If you’re going to gang up on me today is not the day!” Levi spat glaring, “you’re not scary, especially since you’ve just been ploughed into the mattress. Which we all heard by the way.” Erwin fired back. “I will hurt you.” Levi threatened, “what even happened last night? I was blackout drunk.” Levi asked, the other two looked at each other and began to laugh, “a lot happened.” Erwin said with a laugh.

“What happened?” Farlan asked, causing all three to jump. “Don’t fucking do that!” Levi yelled, smacking Farlan hard on the arm. “That’s my hoodie.” Farlan noted, “I borrowed it.” Levi replied, “it looks good on you; you can keep it.” He said, “it’d look better on my bedroom floor, though.” He whispered just loud enough for the other two to hear. “Fuck off,” Levi replied as he blonde pushed himself between the raven’s legs and hugged him tightly. Levi stared at the other two and rolled his eyes, “are you not gonna introduce yourself to Jean?” Levi asked, the blonde turned around and beamed at Jean.

“Hi! I’m Farlan nice to meet you finally. Levi never shuts up about you; he’s constantly talking about how great you are.” The blonde gushed smiling widely at Jean. “Erwin! So good to see you again!” He exclaimed and hugged Erwin tightly, “no hug for me?” Jean asked, looking dejected. Farlan laughed and hugged Jean tightly, “I was joking, but holy shit, you give good hugs.” Jean said hugging Farlan back tightly. “Levi, you’ve lost your boyfriend I’ve stolen him.” Jean joked.

The raven narrowed his eyes, “Far.” The blonde whined out, holding open his arms and pouting. The blonde rushed to entrap the raven in his arms. The four trooped back in, “I need to shower; I feel so disgusting.” Levi grumbled, “want me to join you?” Farlan teased. “You’ve fucked twice already give it a rest damn,” Jean said with disgust. “Farlan go play Mario Kart with Jean or something in the living room,” Levi demanded as he shut his bedroom door and locked it heading for the ensuite. Jean and Farlan got along like a house on fire when they realised they could both speak French; the two entered the kitchen to see Eren making a sandwich, Farlan waved and introduced himself to the brunette.

Eren tried to control the bubbling jealousy that boiled beneath the surface; “where’s the Wii?” Jean asked, “Connie and Sasha have it. Connie took it back for the day.” Eren replied, “ah, well, we’ll just watch tv.” Jean replied, turning the firestick on. The two watched quietly. “What are you studying?” Eren asked, “I’m on an apprenticeship, for architecture. But I also do manual labour building and things.” Farlan replied. The two on the sofa were watching gogglebox. “I love this show.” Jean explained, “it’s so funny.” He added, “I’ve never seen it.” Farlan replied. The blonde ran a hand through his hair and looked at the large screen.

Erwin padded in with a huge blanket, “Erwin!” Farlan exclaimed. “Hey, Farlan!” Erwin replied he sat on the sofa with the blonde, “ah gogglebox. Jean’s converted me to gogglebox. It’s so good.” Erwin said, “I’ve never seen it.” Farlan replied, “anyone want a tea or coffee?” Eren asked from the kitchen, “tea, please!” Erwin exclaimed, “yeah me too, please.” Farlan replied, “how do you take your tea?” Eren asked, “builder’s tea two sugars, please.” Farlan replied. He was under the blanket with Erwin. Jean joined the two, the two French students were whispering, “how’s Izzie?” Erwin asked, “she’s good, she’s just started her work at that cake shop. She’s also in culinary school too.” Farlan replied Eren came over with the teas.

“Ah, ta very much mate.” Farlan replied, taking the hot beverage, he sipped it quietly. Eren joined the three on the sofa, Hange came in with Moblit. The brunette was buzzing to meet Farlan. She talked his ear off until Levi arrived. Mike was sat on the opposite sofa. “Nice shower?” Erwin asked, the raven nodded and got himself a Yakult from the fridge. “Lee, come sit.” Farlan said, looking at his lover, the raven sat in Farlan’s lap. Jean winced, “he has such a boney ass I don’t envy you.” Jean said, throwing a piece of popcorn into his mouth. The blonde sighed and wrapped his arms around the raven’s waist. “What’s for the Christmas lunch?” Farlan asked, “Turkey.” Moblit replied Connie and Sasha blundered in to tend to the food. “Want me to sort that door?” Farlan asked, “I can look at it and try to fix it.” He explained, “that doors not the only thing banging loudly.” Eren mumbled, Levi, kicked the brunette glaring.

“Yeah, see if you can sort the door,” Hange said, looking at the blonde, Farlan patted Levi’s thigh. The raven stood and got comfy between Erwin and Jean. “I’ll need your keys to get back in.” Farlan said, “they’re in my room.” Levi replied Farlan disappeared out the door. “He’s so cute,” Hange replied, Levi, smiled. Reiner was sat with Mike, Hange, and Moblit on the other sofa, “so what happened last night?” Hange asked Levi cringed.

“We got to the club, and Levi immediately got on the hard liquor. He knocked back several vodkas and a couple of tequilas, he then mixed more alcohol and got this gin thing and knocked that back too. He was falling about the place completely smashed, he even got on stage with the band and began dancing and singing.” Jean said with a smile. He showed Hange pictures. The group all enjoyed reminiscing on Levi’s embarrassment, much to the raven’s protest. Farlan arrived back with his trades belt and toolbox. He began working on the door. “Look at him he’s so cute.” Hange gushed. “Fixing our door for us.” She added, “it’s repayment for this morning and last night.” Farlan explained, “if you can fix my shower as well we’ll let you come to rail Levi whenever.” Erwin said from the sofa.

“Don’t tempt him,” Levi warned, Erwin, smiled gently and hugged his friend tightly. “Kenny wants to come to see me.” Levi said to the blonde, “is he able to?” Erwin asked. “He’s moved in with ma, so he’s closer.” Levi replied, “he can’t drive, though, can he?” Erwin asked the raven shook his head. “I keep telling him I’m coming back soon, but he’s so stubborn.” Levi grumbled, “I wonder where you get it from?” Erwin asked jokingly. The raven punched him lightly, “when are we thinking of heading home?” Erwin asked, looking at his friend. “I’m not sure. But I finish tomorrow, so let me know when you want to head back, and I guess we’ll go.” Levi replied, resting his head on Erwin. “How about we head back straight after lectures tomorrow?” Erwin asked Levi nodded.

“Who’s coming to the meal again?” Hange asked, “Us lot, then Bertholdt Reiner’s friend, Annie, Mikasa, Armin, and Farlan.” Erwin replied, “I’ll clean this place before they all arrive.” Levi said, staring at the TV screen, the group sat in a comfortable silence whilst Farlan fixed the kitchen. “Ta-dah!” He exclaimed he demonstrated the door closing mechanism. To everyone’s shock, it closed slowly without slamming. “What else do you want me to look at?” He asked, “my shower.” Erwin piped up, “I need to clean; all of you get out.” Levi said shooing the group, they all went to observe Farlan fixing the shower. Levi was left with Connie and Sasha in the room. The raven set about cleaning the living room and the kitchen till it shone.

* * *

The Christmas dinner went down wonderfully, Christmas crackers were popped, jokes told, songs were sung, the group played just dance and Mario kart to their heart's content. Levi was sat on the sofa, Farlan’s head in his lap. Eren had bagged the seat next to the raven much to Mikasa’s distaste. Jean was trying desperately to get the ravenette’s attention, Eren and Levi smiled in amusement watching the two. “Mikasa hasn’t changed.” Levi noted gently, “how do you mean?” Eren asked, “She’s still as strong and determined as I remember her.” He replied gently resting his head on Eren’s muscular shoulder. The raven yawned loudly.

“Tired?” Eren asked, attempting to hide his blush. “Food coma,” Levi replied, in all honesty, Levi didn’t hate Eren. It was tough to hate someone who was endlessly kind towards you, he would never admit he liked Eren, but he did like Eren. The brunette’s outlook on life bemused Levi, “Lee,” Erwin called gently, the raven looked up at his friend. “Hey,” Levi mumbled sleepily, “Farlan needs to get going the ticket wardens are on the way around,” Erwin said, looking at the blonde. Levi smacked Farlan gently on the head, “you heard that? You need to leave.” Levi said as the blonde sat up, rubbing his head with a huge yawn. “Walk me to the car?” Farlan asked, “no, it's cold out there. I’ll walk you to the door, but I’m not walking you to your car.” The raven said reluctantly peeling himself off Eren.

The blonde stood and stretched; he collected his things and stood at the door. “Goodbye, everyone, it was nice to meet you all!” He called, he was met with a chorus of ‘goodbye’ and ‘have a nice Christmas.’ The raven walked with Farlan quietly, “so…” Farlan began, “we’re not together again.” Levi deadpanned, “but you want to be.” Farlan replied with a wink, the raven smacked his shoulder hard. “No, I do not,” Levi replied. “It was just sex, nothing more.” The raven added. “I’ll come to see you at Christmas?” Farlan offered, “don’t.” Levi responded. “How else will I deliver your present?” Farlan asked, “you’re not allowed to get me a present for Christmas, or my birthday.”

The raven said with a groan, “yes I am, that rule only lasted whilst we were together. We’re not together anymore, so I can get you gifts!” Farlan exclaimed with a giant grin on his face as he pushed open the door and jumped down the steps. He looked back at the raven; the blonde looked gorgeous, the wind tousling his hair, small flakes of snow mixed with the wind and whipped up Farlan’s hair. Before Levi knew what he was doing, the raven dashed after the blonde and hugged him tightly, “I’ll miss you.” The raven mumbled into Farlan’s neck. “You don’t have to miss me.” The blonde whispered gently, holding Levi close to him. “We could just stay like this? Forever?” Farlan whispered. Forever? Forever was a long time… it sounded beautiful. But it felt wrong.

“No,” Levi replied as he steeled himself and pulled away from the blonde’s warm hug, “drive safe.” He added, stepping back a little. A flicker of hurt shone across the blonde’s face, but the emotion quickly faded away, noticing Erwin and Jean coming out of the lift. “I’ll message you when I’m back.” Farlan said with a warm smile. The raven watched as his back disappeared into the night. “What are you doing stood out here in the cold Levi?” Jean asked, the raven shrugged and stared at the empty space that Farlan had disappeared into. “Are you crying?” Jean asked Erwin hurried over. The raven touched his cheeks; they were wet with a strange liquid. “I guess I am.”

The raven choked out, Erwin pulled his friend into a tight hug, Jean hugged the raven’s back. The three stood hugging in the freezing cold car park, with snow gently falling in place around them. Erwin’s heavy coat muffled Levi's wails and sobs. “We’ve got you,” Erwin whispered gently to his friend, the raven clung to Erwin with a vice-like grip. The raven eventually composed himself, Erwin provided him with a tissue for his nose, the raven hiccuped and coughed trying to get his breath back.

“Cig?” Erwin asked gently providing the raven with one, the raven nodded. He was trembling. Jean draped the warm coat from his back over the raven, wrapping him up in it. “I stole Eren’s scarf,” Jean said as he wrapped it around Levi. The three padded over to the bench and smoked quietly, “Levi?” Erwin asked the raven looked at his friend. “It’s not just Farlan is it?” he asked, the raven sighed and took a breath. “Let me finish this, and then I’ll tell you.” He replied.

“Can we go inside to have the heart to heart though? It’s fucking freezing out here.” Jean mumbled, Levi snorted. “Yeah, inside sounds like a good idea.” The raven replied, finishing his smoke and putting it in the bin. “The snow won’t stick though; it’s too warm for it to stick,” Erwin said, looking at the sky as the three walked in. “too warm?!” Jean exclaimed, “you could freeze a witch’s tits off out there!” He exclaimed spamming the elevator call button. Levi snorted and laughed; the ashen male was blowing hot air into his hands to try to warm them up.

The raven looked at Erwin; the blonde smiled at him. Levi shoved his freezing cold hands under Erwin’s hoodie. The blonde let out a manly shriek, “Levi!” he yelled, Jean was laughing as the elevator doors opened. Bertholdt, Annie and Reiner stepped out. “Oh, are you leaving?” Jean asked, “they’ve gotta pack to leave tomorrow.” Reiner said with a smile. The three smokers stepped into the elevator and waved goodbye to their guests, Reiner jumped in the elevator at the last minute.

“That meal went well,” Erwin said, having removed Levi’s hands from his torso. “You’re looking a bit nippy Erwin.” Jean pointed out, “yeah, well Levi just shoved his cold hands up my hoodie, so now I’m cold.” Erwin replied, “Are your hands cold?” Reiner asked the raven, Levi nodded. Reiner took the raven’s hands and rubbed them, placing them on his toned abs. Levi gasped, “you’re so warm.” The raven exclaimed, “I run quite hot. Bert is worse; he’s always sweating because he’s so warm.”

Reiner explained, “this looks so dodgy.” Levi mumbled, “I don’t think there’s anything that can happen now that’s going to shock the group.” Erwin said with a kind smile, Levi padded to his room and stripped the sheets. Determined to remove all traces of Farlan from his room, he threw the sheets into the washing machine. Adding in his detergent, he added in some extra scents to truly remove the smell of Farlan.

“Levi,” Eren began, the raven looked up at the brunette. “I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go for a coffee to like talk about the case studies? Since we’re partnered together for the theory presentation when we’re back…” Eren asked as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Or we could just do it in my room,” Levi replied, “today?” Eren asked the raven nodded. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead in all honesty…” Eren replied, “well we could just start putting down some ideas like a list or a mind map,” Levi replied. The brunette agreed, and the two write down their ideas for the presentation. Jean waltzed in and flopped onto Levi’s bed. “Tell me what was wrong with you outside,” Jean demanded in French.

The raven shook his head, “not yet. Wait will Eren is gone.” He replied, “I heard my name in that conversation. Good things, I hope?” Eren asked with a genuine smile. “No, he’s saying you’re a fucking moron,” Jean replied. The raven threw a pen at his friend, “I said I’d tell him something after you left”. Levi explained, “do you need me to go? I think we’ve done enough work for today anyway.” The brunette replied. “Yes, leave,” Jean said, scrolling through his phone, Levi smacked Jean hard on the thigh. “Stop being so fucking rude,” Levi said glaring at the ashen male.

“If you wouldn’t mind Eren, can you please go?” The raven said, tidying away his work, “yeah sure, no problem.” Eren said, collecting his things and standing. “If you think of anything else you want to add. You can always snap me or message me.” Eren said with a beaming smile. “I don’t have you on anything,” Levi replied, he whipped out his phone and handed it to Eren to input his info. Jean was ranting to Levi in French; the raven tutted now and then, the two appeared to be arguing. Eren smiled fondly; the two fighting reminded him of Mikasa and him when they were younger. Jean rapped on the wall hard three times, Eren was brought back to reality by Levi clicking his fingers at him.

“Oh, sorry, hang on,” Eren mumbled out as he put in his contact information, he added Levi on all social media whilst Levi was distracted by Jean. Eren handed back the phone, Erwin came in. He was half-dressed, tracksuit bottoms hung low on his hips with the waistband of his boxers sitting high on his hips. He yawned loudly, “you woke me up from my nap.” Erwin mumbled, “you’ll live now sit down.” Jean demanded. Levi took back his phone and bid farewell to Eren. Jean leapt up and locked the door after the brunette as he left.

“Now, tell us. What is the real reason you were sobbing in the car park.” Jean pressed. The raven swivelled uncomfortably on his chair. “Levi,” Erwin said gently looking at his friend, the raven burst out into tears. “It’s Kenny. He’s terminally ill. He’s not got long left.” Levi choked out, tears flooding down his cheeks. Erwin gently encouraged the raven to the bed, “how sick?” Erwin asked gently, “it’s terminal Erwin he’s going to fucking die.” Levi spat, “what illness is he suffering from?” Jean asked. “He’s got cancer and coronary heart disease,” Levi replied. “My uncle had that they gave him a new heart and he was fine,” Jean said, trying to bolster the mood. “they can’t give him a new heart, he wouldn’t survive the surgery. Even if he did survive, the cancer is spreading to other areas in his body so it would spread to the new heart.”

Levi replied, “where did it start?” Erwin asked, “prostate, its spread to his lungs, liver, and his kidneys.” The raven replied Jean and Erwin sat in silence, comforting their friend as he poured his heart out the two. “It looks like it’s going to be his last Christmas.” Levi choked out, “do you want to come over for Chrismas dinner again, or do you want to be alone?” Erwin asked. “I think ma wants to be surrounded by friends. So can we come to yours again?” the raven asked, Erwin, nodded. Sending a quick message to his parents. “He’s picked up new hobbies,” Levi choked out a laugh. “He’s started playing the banjo and the ukulele. He’s driving ma mad with his bad singing and playing.” He said sniffling. Jean smiled, “I’d like to meet him. He seems like a cool guy.” Jean said gently.

“Kenny is the coolest guy ever; he always told Levi and I these crazy stories of when he worked as a mercenary and a bounty hunter,” Erwin replied with a smile. “I only live an hour from you guys at most?” Jean asked Erwin, nodded. “I’ll probably swing by on Christmas to deliver presents,” Jean said. “Is it hereditary?” Erwin asked Levi nodded. “I need to get tested. But his was. His grandfather died of the same thing.” Levi explained. “Do you want to go home sooner?” Erwin asked the raven looked at his friend. “Is it selfish of me to ask to go home early?” Levi asked, “your course doesn’t finish till next week or so.” Levi said, “our lecturer is off ill. So it’s all been online, so I can watch it whenever.”

Erwin explained, “I can send you all the notes you missed.” Jean added supportively. “When do you want to go?” Erwin asked, “is it possible to go tonight?” Levi asked, looking around his room. “Yeah, probably,” Erwin said, looking at his watch, “it’s six, so we could be there by nine,” Erwin said. “I’ll help you pack.” Jean offered, the three jumped to it, organising what to take and what to leave. Levi was packed up quickly with one small suitcase, his clothes and toiletries packed away. Erwin took considerably longer, packing away his iMac and his branded clothes into his bags.

Jean helped load the car up with the required items, “Oh shit, my washing.” Levi said, “I’ll sort it out, don’t worry. Do you have bedding at home?” Jean asked, “no, not really.” Levi mumbled out, “I’ll go get some of mine for you to take home. I’ll sort your washing out. Leave me your room key, and I’ll sort it all out for you.” Jean said, holding his hand out. The raven handed the keys over to Jean; the ashen male hurried into the flats. “He’s a good friend,” Erwin said as he turned the car on, “I don’t know what I would do without you two,” Levi replied, the blonde drove the car around to the front of the building, Jean dashed out with his arms full of clean bedding. “it's all clean don’t worry!” Jean hastily added as Levi gently took it from Jean.

“I put a hoodie in there as well in case you forget me whilst you’re gone. I might come to visit before Christmas, so you don’t forget me completely.” Jean said pouting and wiping a fake tear from his eye. “Thank you,” Levi said genuinely to the ashen male. The two shared a hug before briefly separating, “wait, take me with you.” Jean said. “What?” Levi asked, “take me with you. I’ll come too. Wait like five minutes I’ll be ready.” Jean said. “Jean, no, it’s bad enough that Erwin is taking me back. I feel bad enough already.” Levi said, “no, no. I’ll come too. We can have a road trip to see Levi.” Jean said, “plus I don’t want to be left with Reiner and Eren. I might kill myself.” He mumbled out.

“But where will you stay?” Levi asked, “crash on your sofa.” Jean replied. “But your car?” Levi added. Trying to get Jean to change his mind, “I’ll get the train up to collect it, or park it at Erwin’s or some public parking place. I don’t care; I’ll find something.” Jean said Levi looked at Erwin. “don’t look at me! It’s not my choice; it’s Jean’s we can’t stop him.” Erwin said. Levi sighed as Jean whooped loudly and dashed back inside to collect his things. Erwin turned the engine off, “I love Jean. I think he’s a riot.” Erwin said with a smile. “I love him so much, but he’s such a dumbass,” Levi mumbled snuggling into Jean’s clean bedding. As promised, Jean dashed out with several bags in under 5 minutes.

“Do you want to ride with us or drive? It’s three hours if traffic is kind.” Erwin explained, “I’ll ride with you guys.” Jean replied, throwing his things into the boot of the car. “I already let my ma know you’re coming back with us and you’ll be staying with us. She’s so excited to meet you.” Levi said with a small smile. “Are the rooms locked?” Erwin asked Jean nodded. “I locked up all the rooms I could,” Jean replied. The three hit the road.


	5. E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PSA: Get tissues, this is sad. Its v sad. V V V Sad, sorry.

Dread filled Levi as he climbed the steps to his flat, Erwin and Jean followed him up to help him with the bags. The three arrived at the front door. Levi unlocked the door and stepped in; the smell of bleach assaulted his nose. “Ma?” Levi called “Levi!” Kutchel called from somewhere within the house. The raven took his shoes off and carried his bags into the kitchen. The raven fell apart when he saw his mother; he dropped his bags and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Erwin and Jean smiled gently, “we’ll get the rest of the bags.” Erwin said gently, leaving the two to embrace for a while.

“Where’s Kenny?” Levi asked, “he’s having a shower, he’s been sleeping in your room.” Kutchel explained, “Jean and I will take the sofas.” Levi replied, “I need to meet this, Jean.” She whispered into her son’s hair. “The flat smells clean,” Levi noted. “Since Kenny moved in, I talked to the council, and they completely redid it, they got rid of all the mould and replaced all the floors, walls, and added more ventilation in.” She explained. “They also send someone to do deep cleans every week, because his immune system is compromised they don’t want to be responsible if he catches anything,” Kutchel explained kissing her son’s head.

“Your hair smells of fancy shampoo.” She noted, “Jean gave me his, I ran out, and he has so many bottles he let me borrow some.” Levi explained. “Erwin!” Kutchel exclaimed kindly, the blonde smiled widely, “hi Kutchel.” He replied, “and you must be Jean! The famous Jean I hear so much about from Levi!” Kutchel held her arms out for the two males to join in on the hug. They gladly joined in; the group hugged for a few moments before separating. “Levi show Jean his home away from home whilst I make you guys some drinks or something.” Kutchel said, “don’t you start work soon?” Levi asked the ravenette nodded.

“I normally make dinner and then Kenny has a shower, and he’s off to bed.” She explained, “did you three already eat?” She asked, “no, but we can order some food.” Levi replied, “you don’t have to stress about us. Don’t let us make you late if you have to work.” Jean replied with a wide smile. “I see why you like Jean so much, Levi! He’s very kind and considerate!” Kutchel said with a smile as she pulled her coat on. Levi showed Jean around the house, Kutchel dashed around making last-minute adjustments to the house trying to clean up the mess of prescriptions and neatly organising Kenny’s medication,

“I’m off, boys!” She called from the hall, “have a good night at work!” Jean called, “let’s get this bread Kutchel!” He added. Causing her to laugh loudly, she left after the others said goodbye to her. Kenny strolled in; he was whistling a little tune to himself as he tottered in. He was unrecognisable, the built man Levi remembered was gone, a lanky skinny pale man, now stood in Kenny’s place, “Squirt!” Kenny exclaimed, “Erwin!” he looked at Jean. “And?!...” He trailed off, pointing. “Jean.” Levi explained, “Jean!” He exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were all coming back,” Kenny said, hugging his nephew tightly. “I wanted to come back, it was snowing, and I was worried it would snow us in.” Levi said, “these two came with me.” Levi explained.

“Kenny, can you tell us any cool stories?” Erwin asked he looked slightly taken aback. “I’d have thought you’d be tired of my old stories.” Kenny replied, “no way, your stories are amazing. Like the story about when you wrestled a crocodile in Australia when you had to chase your bounty into the catfish dens in America. I wanna hear them all again.” Erwin said with a huge smile. “Hmm, maybe in a while this old man is gonna sit with his banjo,” Kenny said flopping into his chair with a grunt, he got his banjo out and began strumming, he was humming as he did so.

He rocked gently in his chair humming and strumming, “Erwin aren’t you worried about your car in a place like this?” Levi asked the blonde shrugged. “I’ve hidden everything valuable and parked the car right in front of the CCTV, so it’s okay.” He replied Kenny stopped humming to cough. The bone-rattling, hacking loud cough caused Levi to hurry to his side, “do you need anything?” The raven fussed. “Quit your fussing.” Kenny replied, “I’ll need you guys to help me with this song.” He said.

He told them the lyrics and hummed with them the first time, “are you ready?” He asked, tuning his banjo. The three sat back on the sofa and waited for Kenny to give the nod for them to sing, the three sang awkwardly and stumbled over words. “Bah! You’re all useless! Follow with me!” Kenny yelled, singing loudly and proudly, the three followed along singing along, laughing and smiling. Kenny was smiling widely and rocking in his chair, strumming loudly on the old banjo.

The four carried on long into the night, listening to Kenny’s thrilling stories about his life, him being a bounty hunter, a mercenary, a sharpshooter, gun for hire, and even hiding undercover and smuggling himself across many borders. The three university students were filled with childlike wonder as they listened to Kenny tell his tales. The group were all are falling asleep on each other, at around 3 in the morning. Kenny was out cold in his chair. His snores echoed around the room, adding life to the house.

The sound of the keys turning in the lock woke Levi up; the raven looked around. Jean was snoring on his shoulder. Erwin was asleep. The raven had practically fallen asleep on Erwin; the blonde was holding Levi close to him in his sleep. Looking around bleary-eyed, his mother quietly tiptoed in. She took a not so subtle picture of the three, she picked up a spare blanket from the arm of the chair and gently draped it over Kenny. She hurried to the kitchen and got his medications out, fixing him a glass of water and shuffling back.

“Ken,” She whispered gently shaking his shoulder, rousing him from his comatose state for his meds. Levi watched Kenny struggling to function; it broke something deep inside of him. Seeing the normally fearless man struggling to do something as trivial as taking pills cemented the bitter reality of how ill he was. Levi watched the process of Kenny having his blood pressure and temperature taken before given more medications to take. The more Levi looked, the more he realised how the cancers affected his body, it was worse than Levi we being told. It had probably reached his spine, affecting his nerve control, its why Kenny struggled with his banjo struggling to get the right chords when he played. Kenny looked peaceful, gently rocking on his chair he began whistling softly.

The raven gently peeled himself from his friends without waking them up, closing the distance between his uncle the raven climbed into Kenny’s lap cuddling into his chest. Kenny’s hand rested on Levi’s head gently; the two rocked in silence. “Remember when you used to do this when you were tiny?” Kenny asked with a gentle smile on his face, “you’d do it after a bad dream.” Kenny added, the raven nodded and pressed his ear to Kenny’s chest.

Desperate to hear signs of life from the otherwise skeletal looking man. The rhythmic beating set Levi at ease, the two sat and rocked for a while. Unknown to them, Kutchel was taking lots of photos of the two, Jean had also roused from his sleep when Levi began moving and was snapping lots of pictures of the two. “hey, lee.” Kenny said suddenly, the raven looked up at his uncle, “today I’ll show you my garden.” He said with a proud smile, Levi nodded. “We’ll have some breakfast first, and then we’ll go see my garden.” He decided gently rubbing Levi’s head. “Kenny? What do you want for breakfast?” Kutchel asked, making her presence known.

The others began to move when they smelled the heavenly scent of bacon; Jean was drooling, he wiped his mouth and looked around. “Food is cooking,” Levi said from Kenny’s chair. Jean had a bad case of bedhead as he looked around, he stretched with a groan, and eventually stood up heading to the toilet. “Will you stay to see Kenny’s garden?” Levi asked Erwin, the blonde nodded. Yawning loudly and smiled at the two, Erwin padded to the kitchen to help Kutchel with breakfast.

They all came to eat, “I’m going to take Levi and his friends to see my garden today,” Kenny announced proudly. Kutchel smiled widely, “I think that’s lovely. You’ll love it; it's beautiful.” After breakfast, the university students followed Kenny down to the small communal greenhouse. Kenny proudly showed them the flowers and vegetables he’s been growing. “Oh wow, Kenny these are cool!” Jean exclaimed pointed to various potted plants that had started to bud, “Will you look after them for me? They’re only seedlings; I’m worried about frost and slugs getting them.” He explained as he tried to regain his breath, “do they need watering?” Levi asked, “yes, the watering can is by the tap.” Kenny replied, sitting heavily on the planter box, the three boys helped with the garden, weeding, watering, fertilising, planting.

“Jean, what car do you drive?” Kenny asked, “a Mercedes” Jean replied, as he spread some slug pellets on and around the seedlings. “oh wow, I always wanted to ride in a Mercedes again.” Kenny replied, looking at the sky, “I’ll bring it down, and you can ride in one again.” Jean promised kindly, “do you want to go ride in my range rover again?” Erwin asked the older man Kenny nodded excitedly. Levi tried to follow after the two as they headed to the car. “Oi, you’ve not finished with my garden.” Kenny said, “go finish looking after my plants.” He demanded, “I’m not as feeble as you think I am.” Kenny explained gently patting Levi’s head.

* * *

Days passed, and Kenny rapidly declined, he could barely make it down the stairs to tend to his garden, he would often sit in his window watching Jean and Levi tend to his garden for him, a small smile on his face. One night the three males were sat up playing poker at the table. “What are we betting for?” Jean asked, “chocolates.” Kenny replied looking at Levi to empty the bag of special Christmas chocolates Kutchel had bought. “Ma will kill me. These are for Christmas.” Levi said, “well, I want them now.” Kenny deadpanned, the raven sighed as he dished out an even number of chocolates to each player, he put the rest in the middle, and the three began playing poker.

“When are you going to bring your car down Jean?” Kenny asked Jean thought for a moment. “Probably tomorrow, I’ll get the train tonight, so I can drive back and park it outside,” Jean said. “When will you go?” Levi asked, “after this round.” Jean replied the three played on diligently till Kenny won, “how did you win?!” Levi demanded, “surely he’s cheated!” Jean cried, “or maybe you two are just shit!” Kenny exclaimed laughing, his laughter turned into a coughing fit. Levi immediately rushed to Kenny’s side and gave him a glass of water and a handkerchief. Kenny coughed into it after his intense coughing fit he pulled the handkerchief away from his mouth, a string of tainted blood saliva followed from Kenny’s lips.

The raven gently took the cloth cringing as he wiped his uncle’s mouth. “You best get that car, Jean,” Levi said, looking at his friend with urgency. “Yeah, I’ll be back soon, you need anything from uni?” Jean asked the raven shook his head. Jean headed out to catch his train, “I think we’ll need to bring that Christmas dinner forwards.” Kenny said grimly. “Don’t say shit like that.” The raven mumbled, Kenny had gone downhill fast. It seemed every day he declined further and further. He could barely keep food down; even keeping water down was a challenge for him.

“Tell Erwin to bring the dinner forwards to tomorrow.” Kenny pressed, looking at Levi, the raven felt torn. “Stop saying it like you’re doing to die before Christmas.” The raven said, his voice trembling. Kenny looked at his nephew with kind eyes, “tell Erwin.” He said gently resting his hand on Levi’s head. The raven dreadingly sent the text to Erwin, he immediately replied and agreed to hold the dinner early. “Where’s Farlan these days?” Kenny asked, “he’s working hard, Kenny.” Levi replied, “and that Izzie, that sprite.” He said with a huge smile, “she’s also working hard in college.” Levi replied, tidying away the mess, “do you still talk to them?” Kenny asked, looking at his nephew.

“I know you and Farlan were close,” Kenny said with a knowing look. “Sometimes but they’re busy with their lives I don’t want to intrude on their lives,” Levi explained, “you should invite them for Christmas dinner.” Kenny said, “It’d be nice to see them again.” He mused. Levi had sent a message to his mother explaining the situation; she used up her holiday to take the remainder of the year off. “They’re probably asleep, but I’ll ask if they can make it,” Levi promised sending a message to both his old friends. Farlan and Izzie agreed to come to the meal tomorrow, “they said they’d come.” Levi announced, Kenny was fast asleep. Levi gently draped a blanket over Kenny before laying on his sofa and trying to sleep.

* * *

“Jean! Hurry up in the shower!” Levi yelled, banging on the door to the bathroom. “I’m almost done!” Jean screamed, Levi, sighed and waited patiently outside. Jean immerged with a cloud of steam, “have you used all the hot water?” Levi asked, “mayhaps.” Jean said, drying his hair. Levi groaned he had a relatively quick shower and got changed for the Christmas meal, Kenny was ready, he had been ready to go since 7 am that morning. He was so excited to be having dinner with his friends and family. “What time are we heading over?” Kenny asked for the 10th time, “we’re heading over at 11 am.” Kutchel said with a sigh.

“Can we not go sooner?” Kenny asked. “No, stop being so impatient,” Kutchel said, Kenny, sighed and turned the TV on to try to pass the time. Levi towel-dried his hair, “your undercut is getting long.” Kenny pointed out. “I know, I left my clippers here,” Levi said as he got the set out and began to do his undercut. “Do mine too,” Jean asked, partitioning his hair. “Mmm, I’ll forgive you for stealing my hot water just this time because its Christmas,” Levi said as he did Jean’s hair.

Time dragged on slowly as the family sat around the TV, watching quietly. “The garden.” Kenny said suddenly, “I’ve done it already.” Levi replied, “I did it this morning when you were in the shower.” Levi explained, he nodded. Kenny was itching to leave, “it’s 10:50, can we go now?” Kenny asked Kutchel sighed. “Fine, Jean, do you mind if we go now?” Kutchel asked Jean shook his head. “I don’t mind driving over a little early.” He said, collecting his car keys, Kenny was beyond excited to ride in a Mercedes. Kenny was smiling from ear to ear looking at all the gadgets, Jean turned the heated seats on for Kenny and turned the engine on revving it a few times for Kenny.

Jean made sure everyone was comfy before they headed to Erwin’s large house. Jean parked on the drive behind Erwin’s car; they all got out of Jean’s car and headed inside. Erwin’s Labrador was first to greet the group; he was wagging his tail frantically showing the group his stuffed monkey. “Hi, Commander,” Levi said to the blonde dog, stroking the dog behind the ears. Kenny gently stroked the dog on the head, “hey Kenny.” Erwin said, smiling widely, they all got acquainted and sat in the front room for some drinks. “The turkey will be a few more minutes.” Erwin’s mother said with a wide smile, “it’s so nice to have you here again for Christmas dinner! We missed you last year.” She gushed.

“Izzie and Farlan should be coming too.” Erwin reminded his mother as he stroked his dog, the goofy dog had rested his head on Erwin’s thigh. The tail thumping rhythmically on the floor, “why the funky name?” Jean asked, “when I got him, I was obsessed with the army, and I wanted to be in the army, so I called him Commander.” Erwin explained, Levi smiled. “I remember, we used to play army men all day, pretending to be camouflaged in your garden as we ran around with leaves in our hair, sticks and reeds tucked into our waistbands, using little sticks as guns.” Levi said, laughing, “I still have those pictures.” Mrs Smith said, smiling; she retrieved the photo album and gently handed it to Levi.

The raven leafed through the pages smiling and pointing out memories with Erwin. Jean had his head rested on Levi as he looked at the book. “Is Kenny asleep?” Levi asked Kutchel nodded. “Leave him for now.” She replied, “I think he’s getting better; he looks brighter and more alert.” Levi said, looking at his mother. She nodded, smiling, “I think so too.” She replied gently smiling at the three boys on the sofa. Farlan and Izzie arrived, the dog began to bark waking Kenny up. He looked around for the source of the noise glaring at the yellow dog. Farlan and Izzie padded in with arms laden down with presents.

Laughter spread through the large house as Kenny laughed and joked with the members at the table. Levi smiled as Kenny laughed loudly, barely even coughing as he laughed. Kenny barely ate any of the food but the food he did eat he managed to keep down, relief washed over Levi as Kenny made it through the meal without any coughing fits or bringing food back up, after the dinner they sat down around the fire to give gifts, Kenny received all his presents from the group. “I’ve been well and truly spoiled.” He said, smiling at the large array of boxes, “open mine first!” Izzie begged pushing a small delicately wrapped box towards Kenny, he picked it up and fumbled with the bow. He removed it and lifted the lid gently on the box; he gasped, “Macaroons!” He exclaimed, “I made them all last night, they’re all hand made, and it's your favourite flavour too.” Izzie said, positively beaming.

Kenny picked one up and delicately bit into it, the sweet, melty shell from the exterior worked beautifully with the sharp, tangy lemon flavour. He shared them with the group, “wow, Iz. Its is amazing,” Levi exclaimed looking at the redhead. She squealed and hugged Levi tightly. “Mine next!” Jean cried gently placing the box on Kenny’s lap. Kenny lifted the lid of the box, a wide smile spread across his face. He showed the group what he got; it was a real leather Australian cowboy hat. “I remember you were talking about how much you missed Australia and working there in the outback, so I saw that hat and thought it would be perfect for you,” Jean explained, Kenny put the hat on. Smiling at the group, “he’s so pleased with it, bless him.” Kutchel said with a smile, looking at Jean.

Farlan presented Kenny with a custom leather jacket, ‘Kenny the Ripper’ was written across the back, “I remember you telling me and Levi the story of how you got your nickname in America. So I thought it was appropriate for you to have something to commemorate such a great story.” Farlan explained with a smile, “I’m so lucky to have such a great family.” Kenny said, looking at the group. “okay, so there’s a story to my gift.” Erwin explained, as Kenny pulled out the small box, he unwrapped it gently and gasped gently as he took out the watch.

“I remembered you had an old watch, and you said it broke. I remember how attached you were to that watch, so I took it to billions of watchmakers trying to get it fixed, but they didn’t have the parts, and it was too old. All that rubbish, but I found the original French family who made it, and they fixed it up for me. I was going to get you a Rolex, but I remembered how much this watch meant to you and I repaired it for you.” Erwin said gingerly. “Thank you.” Kenny said genuinely, “It was my grandfather’s.” He explained with a sad smile.

It warmed the raven’s heart to see his friends treating Kenny with such love and respect. Levi smiled to himself as he pushed his rectangle boxes forwards, “I feel kinda dumb with my present now seeing how everyone went all out and got extravagant gifts.” The raven mumbled, “nonsense, I’m sure it's wonderful.” Kenny beamed at his nephew, “there’s the letter first which you have to read.” Levi explained as a piece of paper fell out, Kenny read it aloud.

“Uncle Kenny, you are my favourite uncle without a doubt. You are the funniest man, most kind, wholehearted, genuine person, I know. You were continually coming and going, but when you stayed with us, I had some of the best memories of my life. Albeit probably some of the memories we shared weren’t the social norm, for example taking me to play poker in the pub with your friends, probably wasn’t the most family-friendly thing you could have done. But none the less, they were the best memories of my life, I remember always having to drag you past the music shop trying to stop you from buying yet another harmonica or annoying instrument, I remember when you took me to the seaside, and we got chased by seagulls trying to steal our food. I remember the songs we would sing and the dances we would do around the living room whenever I had a bad dream, or I was too scared to sleep. You taught me English and told me to be proud of my nationality, be proud I was who I was, I may not be very tall, but when we were together, I felt like the tallest man alive. The pain in seeing you leave will always scar me, but I know you’ll come back, you always do. You would always sing Frère Jaque to me in the morning to wake me up when I was little and before you left. You played such an essential role in my life, stepping in as a paternal figure to guide me when things were rough. I love you with every inch of me and I always will, I managed to collate some pictures of our best times together into a picture album, so we are always together in fond memories. But I framed our best moment.” Kenny said as his voice wobbled dangerously.

Unwrapping the smaller box was a framed picture of Kenny asleep on his chair in their house with a little five year old Levi asleep inside Kenny’s jumper. Kenny had his hat covering his face as he slept, the raven was furiously wiping away tears and sniffing as he looked at his uncle. “Come here, squirt.” Kenny trembled out. The raven cuddled into Kenny, burying his face in Kenny’s chest. The rest of the evening went beautifully, Kenny napped a lot but was awake for the significant parts.

Eventually, they returned home, Levi helped Kenny to his chair. He sat down with a grunt and opened the book Levi had made, flipping through the pages and smiling, pointing out the different memories. Kutchel stayed up with them looking through the book, Jean perched on the arm of the chair watching and smiling. But before long the other two dropped off to bed, Jean gave the two space and opted to sleep in Levi’s bed.

“Do you remember that windy day when it was so windy we were worried the building would fall?” Kenny asked, looking at a picture of the two holding homemade kites. Levi nodded, “we went to the hills over on the recreation grounds and started flying our kites. The wind was so fierce it almost stole yours away so many times!” Kenny said laughing, Levi nodded with a smile, “Or when we went on a trip to the seaside, we left our spade and bucket on the sand, and the ocean came and took it away.” Kenny said with a smile. He sighed happily, “I’m so tired all the time.” Kenny mumbled, “you must be healing. It takes a lot of effort to heal.”

Levi replied quickly, nervously running his fingers on the brim of Kenny’s old hat. Kenny looked at his nephew with kind eyes, “yeah, I must be.” He said gently; a small silence descended on the two. “hey, you know what. We should go fly those kites someday.” Kenny said. Levi nodded sadly, “Hey, what’s wong squirt?” Kenny asked, gently lifting the raven’s head. “I don’t want you to go; I don’t want you to leave me. I’m not ready for you to go yet. Please don’t leave me.” Levi begged frantically. Kenny shushed the raven and gently wiped his tears away.

“You’ll never be alone, I promise. I’ll always be here,” Kenny replied, pushing his hand onto Levi’s heart, “and in here.” He said, tapping Levi’s head, “I will always be with you.” Kenny said, kissing the raven’s head gently and pulling him into his embrace. “You know about my DNR Levi?” Kenny asked the raven nodded his head. “Why are you asking me that now?” Levi choked out, Kenny looked at him with knowing eyes.

Cancer had taken its toll on his body. He looked skeletal, eyes sunk into his skull, pale, he looked sickly. “because I think it’s my time to go Levi.” Kenny said gently, “you can’t go. I need you. I need you here.” Levi begged his voice breaking, tears spilling down his face. “Jean!” Kenny cried; the taller male came rushing in, “yeah?” He asked. “You take care of my boy now,” Kenny said with a small smile on his face, Jean walked over quietly, placing his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “I promise.” He replied gently.

“No, please, please, you can’t go.” Levi sobbed desperately, Kutchel shuffled in sniffling. She rested her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Thank you, Kenny, for everything you did for Levi and me.” She said kindly. They all watched as Kenny’s fragile chest took its last breath, Levi wailed loudly into Jean clinging onto him for dear life.

* * *

A few days passed, Levi barely moved from his bed. He had stopped going to the garden; Jean tended to the flowers and plants. The raven refused food and barely drank any water. Jean was at a loss, “I don’t know what to do, he won’t do anything, Erwin and I are trying our best, but it has no effect.” Jean said to Kutchel. “I know, and I thank you, Jean, for everything you’re doing, but right now, I think its best if you go home to your family. Levi loves you so much, but he needs time to grieve and process. You also haven’t seen your family since you got here. I bet your family misses you so much.” Kutchel said, giving Jean a tight hug.

“Can I still call him every day to make sure he’s okay?” Jean asked Kutchel nodded. “Of course, Erwin can give you updates when he comes to check up on us.” She said gently after a lot of delaying and stalling Jean returned home. Kutchel pushed open the door to her son’s room; the raven was lay in his bed cuddling Kenny’s jacket he was puffy-eyed and looked ashen grey.

“Oh, my boy,” Kutchel said, gently laying behind her son. “I just want him back.” Levi choked out, “I want to hear his stupid songs he’d sing, his bad whistling, I want to listen to his out of tune banjo, I want to hear his laugh, feel his arms around me, feel his hugs, cry on his shoulder, I want to feel his scratchy stubble on my cheek, hear him say, ‘heya squirt!’ Just one last time, I’d do anything to say goodbye again.” Levi sobbed loudly; “The world is so dull without him; I want to see the world in colour again. I want to be by his side again go on our adventures; I want to see him walk around the garden looking after his plants, hear his humming, see him with his flowers, or even hear that damn cough again, just anything to be near him again.” The raven wailed, “I know you do honey, but refusing food isn’t going to help you. It won’t bring him back; nothing will. Every day without him is so hard, and it never gets any easier. You can forget that he’s gone for a while maybe, but then it comes back, and it hurts. It hurts so bad; my heart feels like it's been torn in half, but he wouldn’t want us to be sad. He wants us to remember the good times and to carry on remembering the good.” She explained to the raven.

“You’ve got so many people around you who love you and support you. I had to chase Jean with a wooden spoon to get him to leave! Farlan and Izzie come by every day, dropping off fresh food, flowers, snacks, sweet treats, lovely teas.” She said, kissing her son’s head.

“Erwin comes by every lunchtime with his dog and a tall blonde person called Mike to try to get you to come out and walk the dog with him, I get calls every day on the landline from a funny couple called Hange and Moblit, she rings me every day at 6 pm on the dot to make sure you’ve eaten or at least moved from your bed. A nice boy called Reiner rings up twice every day. I get food parcels from two people called Connie and Sasha! Our fridge has never been this full! And you’ve had a very unlikely visitor. Eren Jaeger comes to see you as well; he brings his mother sometimes. They’re desperate to help in any way.” Kutchel said, gently soothing her son. There was a bang at the door, Kutchel tutted and rose from the raven’s bed padding to the door.

“Hi Ms Ackerman. How are you?” A voice called, it was Eren. Eren was coming to see him. Levi raised his head in curiosity. The whole room was spinning; unknown footsteps tiptoed along the creaky floorboards outside his door. Levi locked eyes with Eren. The brunette looked increasingly concerned. The raven didn’t have the energy even to tell Eren to leave, letting his head fall back on the pillow he sighed. The brunette sat on the edge of the bed, “I’ve been messaging you did you not see the messages?” Eren asked, “my phone is flat.” Levi’s crackly voice choked out; the brunette plugged it in to charge and stared at Levi.

“Have you eaten?” Eren asked the raven shook his head weakly, “there’s some nice food outside if you want to try some food.” Eren offered. The raven shook his head, “come on, lee.” Eren encouraged gently. The brunette sighed and stood when the raven gave him no reaction; he returned with some food. “I’m not eating any,” Levi grumbled out, Eren shrugged. “Your loss.” He replied Eren was eating happily. The smell of the food caused Levi’s stomach to growl loudly. In all honesty, the food did look amazing.

The raven gingerly picked up one of the pasties Eren was eating; he took a tentative bite. Flavour burst onto his tongue; it was glorious. Levi scrolled through his phone whilst he ate the food, Eren had sent him pictures, memes, updates about work every day since Kenny passed away. He had a bunch of missed calls from all the housemates; he even had messages from people he hadn’t talked to since secondary school messaging him.

“Oh, I found a cool rock on the way here,” Eren said, putting the rock on Levi’s windowsill. “I also found a cool leaf, I wanted to bring that too, but my mum wouldn’t let me.” Eren explained, “a leaf?” Levi questioned, Eren nodded. He showed Levi the picture of the leaf, “look, a cool leaf.” He reiterated. The leaf was pretty cool; it was bright red and a unique shape. “I think the rock is cool because of the bits of quartz in it.” Eren pointed out, showing Levi. The raven was finishing off his second pasty when he reached onto the plate to get another when he realised it was all gone. “Hey, it's your birthday soon.” Eren pointed out, “I remembered! See! I’m useful for some things!” Eren said with a beaming smile.

“Eren I don’t mean to sound rude. But why are you even here?” Levi asked Eren thought quietly for a moment. “Because you’re my friend, and I want to make sure you’re okay,” Eren replied, “I know what it's like to lose someone close to you. I have also seen what losing someone close to you can do to a person.” Eren explained. “Zeke lost his mother when we were younger; I was close to his mother too. So it was like losing part of me. I was relatively young when she passed, but, it took a toll on me. But seeing Zeke go through it alone was like torture. So I want to make sure that you’re not going to go through this alone.”

**Author's Note:**

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